Search
  1. Home
  2. West Africa
  3. Guinea-Bissau

Gambia denies holding Vieira

    ABIDJAN
    Gambia denied on Wednesday news reports that it was holding former Guinea Bissau president Joao Bernardo Vieira against his will. “I expect Mr Vieira to leave on an aircraft for Portugal either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow,” Gambian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Sedat Jobe told IRIN. The Portuguese news agency, Lusa, reported on Tuesday that a relative of Vieira had told it Vieira was “very upset” at not having been allowed to travel on to Portugal. Jobe dismissed reports of Vieira’s detention in The Gambia as “nonsense”. The precise timing of Vieira’s departure, Jobe added, depended on how soon Portugal could send a plane. “The ball is in their camp,” he said. Portugal’s foreign ministry, he said, had informed his office that Lisbon had granted Vieira asylum. Jobe said that after arriving in Portugal arrangements would probably be made for Vieira to go to a French military hospital in Paris, where he had previously received care.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join