Gambians await Jammeh's exit after pledge to go

Gambians yesterday anxiously awaited the departure of strongman Yahya Jammeh after he agreed to stand down following 11th-hour talks with west African leaders to head off a regional military intervention.

Announced in the early hours of Saturday morning, Jammeh's decision to leave appears to end a protracted political crisis in this former British colony, allowing newly-elected president Adama Barrow to take over.

The announcement came after flurry of last-minute diplomacy by the presidents of Guinea and Mauritania who jetted into the capital Banjul on Friday to persuade the recalcitrant leader to stand down.

Several sources said he was likely to leave yesterday, but so far there has been no clear agreement on where he would go.

And his actions will be carefully monitored as he has previously agreed to step down after recognising Barrow as winner of the December 1 elections -- then completely reversed his position.

"I have decided today in good conscience to relinquish the mantle of leadership of this great nation with infinite gratitude to all Gambians," Jammeh said on state television in the early hours of yesterday.

At Friday's talks, backed by the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), an agreement was reached in principle for Jammeh to leave, but by Saturday morning, it had still not been signed.

After a calm night in Banjul, many only heard the news on waking, and greeted his declaration with a cautious optimism, aware of the strongman's mercurial nature.

Speaking to AFP on Saturday morning, a Mauritanian diplomatic source close to the talks said Jammeh would likely leave during the day.

"He will most likely go to Equatorial Guinea," she said, saying Barrow was expected to return to the country during the evening.

Other sources, however, suggested Jammeh would head to the Guinean capital Conakry.

Jammeh's refusal to leave had triggered a major political crisis, with the international community putting huge pressure on him to step down and troops from five African nations gathering on The Gambia's borders.

The crisis also sparked panic on the ground, sending thousands of foreign visitors fleeing in what threatened to deal a potentially devastating economic blow to a country which earns up to 20 percent of its income from tourism.