Gambia holds two for filming U.S. embassy: sources
BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambian authorities have arrested two people of Lebanese origin for videotaping sensitive government installations and the U.S. embassy, security sources in the West African country said on Friday.
A senior officer in Gambia's National Intelligence Agency told Reuters the Lebanese-born Gambians were arrested on Wednesday for videotaping Gambia's main telecommunications facility, its army barracks and the U.S. embassy in the capital Banjul.
He said the two were picked up while filming one of the installations, but did not say which one.
The pair's parents were also detained, their houses searched and their belongings confiscated although they had not yet been charged, the officer said.
Under Gambian law suspects can normally be held for up to 72 hours without charge, after which they must be charged or released, although exceptions to that rule have been made in cases of a sensitive nature.
U.S. embassy officials reached by Reuters declined to comment on the detentions.
Gambia, a former British colony sandwiched on the Atlantic coast between the northern and southern regions of Senegal, is around 95 percent Muslim. Like much of West Africa it has an economically powerful Lebanese business community.
National governments and U.S. security agencies are highly sensitive to perceived threats to U.S. diplomatic missions in Africa since simultaneous bombings on U.S. embassies in East Africa killed more than 200 people in 1998.
A senior officer in Gambia's National Intelligence Agency told Reuters the Lebanese-born Gambians were arrested on Wednesday for videotaping Gambia's main telecommunications facility, its army barracks and the U.S. embassy in the capital Banjul.
He said the two were picked up while filming one of the installations, but did not say which one.
The pair's parents were also detained, their houses searched and their belongings confiscated although they had not yet been charged, the officer said.
Under Gambian law suspects can normally be held for up to 72 hours without charge, after which they must be charged or released, although exceptions to that rule have been made in cases of a sensitive nature.
U.S. embassy officials reached by Reuters declined to comment on the detentions.
Gambia, a former British colony sandwiched on the Atlantic coast between the northern and southern regions of Senegal, is around 95 percent Muslim. Like much of West Africa it has an economically powerful Lebanese business community.
National governments and U.S. security agencies are highly sensitive to perceived threats to U.S. diplomatic missions in Africa since simultaneous bombings on U.S. embassies in East Africa killed more than 200 people in 1998.
posted by Marko at 2/17/2006 07:33:00 AM
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