No ending to Baba Jobe's troubles

by PK Jarju



As if being jailed for economic crimes and having his assets frozen is not enough, Baba Kajally Jobe, former assistant secretary Office of the President and director of President Yahya Jammeh's New Millennium Airline, is still on the United Nations Security Council travel ban list.

In its latest travel ban list update in pursuant of resolution 1343 (2001) on Liberia, adopted on 7 March 2001, the Security Council still described Mr Jobe as an 'arms trafficker, who supported former President Charles Taylor’s regime in effort to destabilise Sierra Leone and gain illicit access to diamonds.'

It urged all states to take the necessary measures to prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of Mr Jobe and 58 others, who constitute a threat to the peace process in Liberia, or who are engaged in activities aimed at undermining peace and stability in Liberia and the sub-region, including those senior members of former President Charles Taylor’s Government and their spouses and members of Liberia’s former armed forces who retain links to former President Charles Taylor, and any other individuals, or individuals associated with entities, providing financial or military support to armed rebel groups in Liberia or in countries in the region.

Mr Jobe, 49, who was majority leader and National Assembly Member for Jarra West, was said to have conspired with others to run an arms smuggling ring in contravention of UN Security Council resolution 1343. And in between January and June 2001, Mr Jobe and the New Millennium Airline were said to have been used as transiting companies for illegal weapons handled by gun running mafias, Samih Osailly and Aziz Nassour who were jailed in Antwerp, Belgium for illegal diamond smuggling and weapons purchases.

Mr Osailly and Nassour, who are cousins from Lebanon, were also reported to have sold blood diamonds and indirectly or directly supported the Taylor regime. Baba Jobe is also said to have according to a commercial aviation database, use the New Millennium Airline, a Russian-made passenger jet acquired from Centrafrican Airlines, to cover the operations of, Victor Anatoljevitch Bout, one of the world's biggest arms dealers.

A former Russian lieutenant, who has acquired the nicknames Merchant of Death and Lord of War, Mr Bout use to fly his ancient Soviet planes into battlefields from Liberia to Afghanistan and some of his clients are said to include the Taliban and African warlords. He is said to have transported weapons and minerals in contravention of UN Security Council resolution 1343, and have supported former President Taylor’s regime in effort to destabilise Sierra Leone and gain illicit access to diamonds. The travel ban on Baba Jobe and others first came into effect on June 4, 2001.

The Gambia Government reacted angrily to the news and accused the UN of trying to smear the name of the country. Under the directives of President Jammeh, Momodou Lamin Sedat Jobe, Foreign Affairs Secretary at the time, on June 27, 2001, wrote a protest letter [reference number S/2001/704] to Kishore Mahbubani, chairman of the Security Council Committee established in pursuant to resolution 1343 (2001) concerning Liberia.

In the letter, Secretary of State Jobe said: "I refer to your communications of 7 June 2001, conveying the content of resolution 1343 (2001), and 4 June 2001, addressed to the Permanent Representative of the Gambia [Babucarr Blaise Jagne].

Following the release of the report of the Security Council Panel of Experts on Sierra Leone Diamonds and Arms, the Government of the Gambia, through its Permanent Representative in New York, addressed a letter on 23 January 2001 to you, inviting the Panel of Experts to visit the Gambia before the Security Council considered the report.

I am therefore surprised that, despite the fact that no reaction to my Government’s request was forthcoming from you and without any pre-information or request for clarification from the Gambia, when the subject of sanctions on Liberia was being discussed, a Gambian national, Baba Jobe, has been included in the list of Liberian nationals affected by the Security Council travel ban. I am even more amazed by the fact that the mention of Mr Jobe’s name on the list was accompanied neither by an indication of his passport number nor his date of birth, as is the case with the other persons affected by the sanction.

Following informal enquiries with the sanctions Committee, my Representative at the United Nations was informed that the inclusion of Mr Jobe’s name on the list was a result of a request from the French, British and United States Governments. Consequently a formal request was sent to you, demanding the details surrounding such a serious allegation which the Government of the Gambia definitely cannot treat lightly, if it is corroborated with evidence.

Having waited for almost four weeks for your response, we have taken it upon ourselves to inform the Gambian public that we believe that the decision to include a Gambian on the list was a well-calculated move and is prejudicial to my country, which despite its size has been playing a major role in the quest for peace and stability in the West African sub-region beyond. Furthermore, my Department of State has decided to inform the international community about the very undemocratic, illegal and non-transparent manner in which the Security Council handled this matter.

The Government of the Gambia is aggrieved by the fact that a decision of such magnitude has been taken without any research and consultations with the country affected. It must be noted that situations like this one will, sooner rather than later, undermine the moral authority of the sanctions Committee. When I consulted with the British, French and American Missions in the Gambia, they did not seem to know about the origin of the inclusion of the Gambian national. This can hardly be an illustration of the high standard of justice and equity that is expected of the Committee in passing judgement on Member States and their citizens. It is my belief that the inclusion of the Gambian national in the list is an error which is of great prejudice to the individual and the prestige of the Gambia as a country.

Let me draw your attention to the fact that the Gambia, as a signatory to the ECOWAS Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons in West Africa, signed in 1998, is the only State that has not so far requested a waiver of the Moratorium in order to import or export arms. The Gambian President, Alhaji Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh, has even gone beyond that and informed Member States parties to the agreement very clearly that, if they continue to request waivers, there would be no raison d’être for the Moratorium.

Against this background, therefore, describing a Gambian official as an arms trafficker is not only a very serious matter but a case that has to be followed up, so that the Gambian public can have all the details necessary for a better understanding of the matter.

It is our belief that this accusation is unfounded, because if it were true the matter would have been treated more professionally and we would have received a detailed communication from the Committee prior to the publication of the list. If the foregoing is confirmed the sanctions Committee must convince the whole world that it is fair and respectable and has the courage of recognising its mistakes when they do occur, especially when they tarnish the international reputation of a State Member of the United Nations which gave invaluable service to the Security Council during the two years that it served as one of its non-permanent members."

After a series of correspondence with the UN, the Gambia Government flatly refused to accept the Security Council's indictment of Mr Jobe. It also refused to comply with UN Resolution 1521 which urged all states to freeze without delay funds, other financial assets and economic resources owned or controlled by Baba Jobe and others.

However on March 26, 2004, the Jammeh decided to freeze Mr Jobe's assets two days before he received an 8 year prison sentence for economic crimes.

Although the Security Council has not mentioned President Yahya Jammeh in its report, there are many questions being asked by ordinary Gambians on whether Baba Jobe did actually embarked on such adventures without the knowledge of the airline owner, the President. And if Jammeh indeed knew about the transactions, how much money was generated?