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President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia, a military
officer and former wrestler from a rural background, has ruled the country with
an iron fist since he seized power in a coup in 1994 ©Issouf Sanogo (AFP)
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President Yahya Jammeh
has declared the Gambia "an Islamic state", but stressed that the
rights of the Christian minority in the small West African country would be
respected and that women would not be held to a dress code.
The
announcement came as the president addressed supporters in the coastal town of
Brufut on Thursday, and the comments were later broadcast on state television
and repeated on his website.
AFP report continues:
"Gambia's
destiny is in the hands of the Almighty Allah. As from today, Gambia is an
Islamic state. We will be an Islamic state that will respect the rights of the
citizens," he was quoted as saying on the presidential website.
In
television footage of the address on GRTV, seen by AFP on Saturday, the
president did not go into detail about what the change would mean for the
country, but he reassured Christians and followers of other faiths they would
be able to worship freely.
"Christians
will be given their due respect. The way of celebrating Christmas will continue,"
he said, adding that no one had the right to interfere with others' "way
of life".
He
also warned against trying to impose a dress code on women.
"I
have not appointed anyone as an Islamic policeman. The way women dress is not
your business," he said.
An
impoverished former British colony nestled within Senegal, and famed for its
white-sand beaches, the Gambia has a population of nearly two million, 90
percent of whom are Muslim.
Of
the remainder, eight percent are Christian and two percent are defined as
having indigenous beliefs.
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Colonial past -
Jammeh,
50, a military officer and former wrestler from a rural background, has ruled
the country with an iron fist since he seized power in a coup in 1994.
Opponents
say he has become increasingly paranoid, regularly reshuffling his ministers
and keeping only a tiny circle of trusted allies close to him.
He
cultivates the image of a practising Muslim, and is often seen holding a Koran
or prayer beads, and of promoting an aura of mysticism.
He
also regularly rails against the Gambia's colonial past, blaming it for many of
the country's woes. In March 2014, Jammeh said Gambia will drop English as its
official language, without specifying which of the country's indigenous tongues
would replace it.
The
main opposition party on Saturday poured scorn on the president's unexpected
proclamation of an Islamic republic, saying it had no legal basis.
"President
Yahya Jammeh's pronouncement or declaration is unconstitutional, it has no
constitutional basis and... it is an unlawful declaration," Ousainou
Darboe, the secretary general of the main opposition United Democratic Party,
told AFP.
"It
is becoming ridiculous that whenever he wants to divert pubic attention from
what is happening in the country, he attacks colonialism," Darboe said.
Human
Rights Watch this year branded Jammeh's regime one of the most repressive in
the world, blaming paramilitaries and secret police for torture, disappearances
and extrajudicial killings.
In 2013, Jammeh withdrew
his country from the Commonwealth, saying it represented "an extension of
colonialism".
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