Adama Barrow sworn in as Gambian president in Senegal

As fears of a brewing military confrontation grew, Gambia’s army chief announced that he wouldn’t order his troops to fight other African forces, were they to cross the border.

A senior Nigerian military source said this week the ECOWAS regional bloc was getting ready to remove Jammeh by force if he refused to hand over to Barrow by a January 19 deadline determined by the constitution.

The Secretary-General conveyed the readiness of the United Nations system to support President Barrow and his government in their efforts to promote democracy and achieve sustainable development in The Gambia. The regional forces have been in Gambia for about a week because of Jammeh’s refusal to concede defeat in last month’s presidential poll.

After Jammeh rejected the election results, Adama Barrow was moved to a safe house for protection and was later moved into Senegal in the days before his inauguration.

Gambia’s only land border is with Senegal and the regional coalition, which ECOWAS says involves 7,000 troops, has entered from the southeast, southwest and north.

Gambian activists in Banjul told me they were happy the crisis would soon be over, but feared the political standoff would not end peacefully.

Jammeh took off in an unmarked plane heading for an unspecified destination, seen off by a delegation of dignitaries and soldiers.

Barrow defeated Jammeh in the December elections, but Jammeh contested the results as calls grew for him to be prosecuted for alleged abuses during his more than 22 years in power.

Even Jammeh’s former lawyer Edward Gomez, who was arguing cases on the president’s behalf as late as Monday, pleaded with him to step down Thursday after himself fleeing to Senegal.

It was not immediately clear if Mr Jammeh was inside one of the dozens of vehicles.

Gambia’s unrest had more than 45,000 people fleeing the country, the United Nations said.

In an address on state television, Mr Jammeh – who had once said he would rule The Gambia for a billion years – said he would stand down and that it was “not necessary that a single drop of blood be shed”.

Barrow asked for foreign help to assume office immediately after he was sworn in on Thursday, a plan that was backed by the U.N. Security Council in NY.

“What the Senegalese said about the midnight deadline was to put pressure on Jammeh”. In his so-called apology to the Gambian people, Mr. Sarr said on facebook “I am just a true believer but also an ordinary human being capable of committing mistakes; nonetheless, I hope my apology will be accepted wholeheartedly and not viewed as a sign of weakness of guilt”.