JOHANNESBURG: Amnesty International says it has credible reports that the West African nation of Gambia has executed nine convicted criminals and that more death-row inmates are under imminent threat.
Eight men and one woman were removed from their prison cells Friday night and executed, according to Amnesty.
Gambia’s information minister was not immediately available to confirm the report.
Amnesty said the executions are the first in Gambia since 1987. Gambia reinstated the death penalty in 1995 but had not executed anyone.
Gambia’s President Yaya Jammeh vowed earlier this month to execute all the country’s inmates who had been sentenced to death as part of efforts to dissuade people from committing “heinous crimes” and to curb a rising crime rate.
Amnesty said there were 47 inmates on death row.
Gambia executes nine, more threatened: AI
Gambia executes nine, more threatened: AI
Pull him off TV: Steve Bannon shuts down Sen. Lindsey Graham
- Trump’s former chief strategist called for the senator to be registered as a foreign agent
DUBAI: Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon called on Tuesday for US Senator Lindsey Graham to be registered as a foreign agent of the Israeli government, escalating a growing conservative backlash against the senator’s vocal support for Israel.
Speaking on his podcast “War Room,” Bannon said Graham should be “pulled off of television,” adding: "This is dangerous… because you have guys like Lindsey Graham and dozens more that are doing the wrong thing.”
In a Fox News interview on Monday, Graham said: “To all the antisemites, to all the isolationists… I’m not with you, I’m with Israel, I will be with Israel to our dying day.”
Graham also urged Gulf Arab states to join military action against Iran. “What I want you to do in the Middle East, to our friends in Saudi Arabia and other places, [is] step forward and say, ‘this is my fight too, I join America, I’m publicly involved in bringing this regime down,’” he said.
In a post on X, Graham questioned the value of a US defense agreement with Saudi Arabia following the evacuation of the American embassy in Riyadh, writing: “Why should America do a defense agreement with a country like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is unwilling to join a fight of mutual interest?”
Faisal Abbas, editor-in-chief of Arab News, responded to Graham’s comments in a Sky News interview, saying: “He flip flops so much, it’s actually entertaining.”
“On one hand, he says he will never set foot in Saudi Arabia. The next day, he’s here signing multimillion-dollar deals.”
“I don’t think anyone here takes him seriously,” Abbas added.
He warned Graham to be careful what he wished for: “Do you really want Saudi Arabia involved in this war putting our oil facilities at risk or do you want us stabilizing the energy markets?”
Graham pressed further, warning that inaction would carry a price. “Hopefully Gulf Cooperation Council countries will get more involved as this fight is in their backyard. If you are not willing to use your military now, when are you willing to use it?”
“Hopefully this changes soon. If not, consequences will follow.”
Graham's remarks drew sharp criticism from Bannon and others including podcast host Megyn Kelly.
She questioned on X whether Graham was overstepping his authority as a senator, writing: “When did Lindsay Graham become our president?”
Kelly also said Graham had threatened Lebanon, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, the wider Arab region, and Spain within a 24-hour period.
The problem with Graham “isn’t (just) that he’s a homicidal maniac, it’s that Trump likes and is listening to him,” she said in another post.
