Gambia declared Islamic republic by President Jammeh

The tiny sliver of a country, named after the river from which British ships once allegedly fired cannonballs to fix its borders, joins the ranks of other Islamic Republics such as Iran and Afghanistan.

Yahya Jammeh claims the move marks a break with the colonial past and was in line with Gambia’s religious identity and values. While saying there would be no laws on attire in the country, Jammeh added, “We will be an Islamic state that would respect the rights of all citizens and non-citizens”.

“This decision to become an Islamic state is not negotiable”, he said.

Ninety percent of Gambians are Muslims.

He also regularly rails against the Gambia’s colonial past, blaming it for numerous country’s woes.

The Supreme Islamic Council, the country’s Islamic body, has so far made no comment on the presidential announcement, with its chairman, Imam Momodou Lamin Touray, saying the declaration had not even been discussed yet.

An opposition leader has said this kind of decision needs to go through a referendum.

President Yahya Jammeh’s announcement does not align Gambia with ISIS, or any other jihadist or radical Islamist group. 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.

“Second, Jammeh has burned all bridges with his former donors in the West due to his deplorable human rights track record and the rampant corruption that he has participated in”.

The government of the West African nation appealed to countries of the region to send Rohingya refugees to its shores, where it said it would set them up in refugee camps.

Mr. Jammeh withdrew Gambia from the Commonwealth in 2013, describing the organisation as neo-colonial.