Colonel Ahmed Bamba Ould  Baye, the permanent secretary at the High State Council of Mauritania, last morning, had an audience with the vice-president, Dr Aja Isatou Njie-Saidy, in her office  at State House, Banjul.

Mr Baye flew into Banjul as a special envoy of the head of state, General Abdul Azziz, who seized power in a bloodless coup on August 6.
Speaking to newsmen shortly after his audience with the vice president, the special envoy said his visit to Banjul was to convey a special message from General Azziz to President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh, on the ways and means to strengthening  the existing cordial relationship between Banjul and Nouackhott.

According to him, the coup in Mauritania is justified, because there was a total breakdown of democracy there. But he was quick to add that the junta is resolved to return the country to the path of true democracy, adding that the takeover has been welcomed by an overwhelming majority of legislators in Mauritania

VP receives Vieira’s envoy
A special envoy of President Bernado Nino Vieira of Guinea Bissau, last Thursday, called on the vice-president and secretary of state for Women’s Affairs, Aja Dr Isatou Njie-Saidy, in her office, at State House, Banjul.

After a closed door meeting with the vice-president, Ms Maria Da Conceicao Nobre Cabral, the minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Guinea Bissau, told waiting reporters that she was in Banjul in the service of President Vieira, who had asked her to convey a special message to “his brother and friend”, President Alhaji Dr Yahya Jammeh.

She disclosed that the message centres on issues surrounding the already existing bilateral relations between the two countries, noting that President Vieira also seeks “to renew his friendship with his brother” [President Jammeh] in light of “the current situation in my country, Guinea Bissau”, an apparent reference to the recent foiled coup plot in the West African nation.

The Guinean envoy described the situation in her country as calm, except for “some political tension”. She assured journalists that the situation in Bissau was stable.

We feel for the population in our neighbouring country Mauritania who have once again been plunged into a state of political uncertainty by the illegal seizure of power from the democratically elected government there.

Troops in Mauritania have overthrown the country’s first freely-elected leader and say they have formed a state council to rule the country.

President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi was held after he tried to dismiss the military’s top commanders.

Troops were out on the streets of the capital, Nouakchott, where tear gas was fired at about 50 protesters.

The leaders of all free nations who prize democracy and the right of the people to select their own leaders should roundly condemn this. Yet again in West Africa we are witnessing an illegal coup. When will the people be free of this menace? From the earliest reports reaching us and cited above this appears to have been carried out by a group of disgruntled military personnel who did not wish to lose their jobs. This is outrageous. As members of the military they should take their medicine and not simply revolt against their democratically elected leaders simply because they are not pleased with any given situation. We call on President Jammeh to remember the message that graced our billboards when the President of Mauritania visited The Gambia recently. Under pictures both presidents all over the Greater Banjul Area was a phrase invoking strength in unity. The Gambian government must show an example of this unity now and condemn this outrage so as to hopefully strengthen the position of the deposed politician.

The African Union have risen to the task and condemned the coup, demanded a return to constitutional government and said it was sending an envoy to Nouakchott immediately.

The governments of South Africa and Nigeria - both major players in the African Union - also criticised the military takeover.

The US State Department and the European Commission also decried the coup, with the commission warning it would suspend aid to Mauritania.

We must add our voice to this chorus of disapproval and support the population of this neighbouring nation who have so consistently suffered repeated coups in their nation. This kind of illegal seizure of power has no place in a democratic Africa.

The result of the game is the opposite of what happened in Banjul when the Gambian U-20 only managed a 1-0 home win after a late goal scored by team captain Pa Modou Jagne.

The home side took the lead in the seventh minute of the first half through its formidable striker after a goal to The Gambia was disallowed by the referee, thus emboldening the Mauritanian side to capitalise and register their first goal through striker Omar Faal.

The first half thus ended in favour of the home side.

The Gambia came into the second half with a 4-4-2 formation and Modou Lamin Sillah replaced striker Cherno Njie, who was substituted for sustaining an injury. The second half also saw the coming in of Striker Sainey Touray alias Ballack, joining his former U-17 team partner Ebou Bojang up front to give Coach Lorenzo Rubbinacci’s side more force that translated into pressure for the Mauritanians.

When the Gambian captain, Pa Modou Jagne, was brought down in the Mauritanian box in the 47thminute, The Gambia was awarded a penalty, which was converted to a goal by Captain Pa Modou bringing The Gambia level.

Mauritania’s hopes of advancing to the next stage was dashed when Gambia’s two unstoppable strikers, Ebou Bojang and Sainey Touray (Ballack), justified their partnering up front with a show of impressive football in their onslaught on the Mauritanians. Lanky Ebou Bojang put The Gambia in the lead, before spelling irreversible defeat for the home side with his second goal, bringing the tally 3-1. The Gambia will now play Ghana and the first leg is scheduled to take place in Accra, Ghana in the last round of the play off onthe weekend ofSeptember 26th2008 before the tournament kicks off in Rwanda in 2009.

Meanwhile the team is expected to arrive in Banjul today, Monday14th uly 2008.

The Gambia U-20 team Coach, Lorenzo Rubbinacci, has a great task to maintain his team’s lead by avoiding defeat in Mauritania. The team is expected to either go in for a win or draw to proceed to the second stage of the African Youth Qualifiers where they will neither meet Ghana or Libya.

But Lorenzo is confident that his players will produce better results in their second leg cracker judging their recent improvement and response during training sessions.

Mauritania are equally a very formidable side and very disciplined especially in the mid-field. They will fight to come back into to the competition especially looking at their level of development in Youth football.

The Gambia U-20 were bronze medallist in the 2007 African Youth Championship in Congo and put in a very respectable performance in the World Youth Championship in Canada the same year.

The move, the first of its kind, is of great significance as the Scorpion Fan Club has always been dedicated to supporting the various national teams despite facingnumerous constraints.

Like in many countries fans are sent to cheer up their players as they are also an important component of the game.Aware of this important fact, The Gambia Football Associationwill be taking care of 25members of the National Scorpions Fan Club who will be travelling by road to Mauritania.

The President of the Scorpions Fans Club, Bai Cham described the gesture as noble and timely adding that it is complementing the efforts of President Jammeh.

“I am appealing to individuals and private sector to emulate the Gambia Football Association for future upcoming matches,” he added

He said they are will leave today during the evening and are expected to return by Monday.

Cham pointed out that, “ It is important to cheer up the boys as we have to defendtheperformancewe had in Congo 2007. We should qualify for Rwandaand hope that we will become the goal medallists in 2009.”

He commended parents of the members of the Scorpions Fan Club for allowing their children to go for a national course and seek for their prayers especially from the religious leaders for the success of the team.

The fan club are said to be travelling on The Gambia Football Association coaster.

The team, which won the first leg in Banjul by a lone goal, is going all out to win in Nouakchott.This intention was made known by The Gambia’s U-20 coach Lorenzo Rubbinacci while speaking to Pointsports.

He said the Mauritania match is a very important moment for the team and they will be going all out with the mentality to win.

He said, “the Banjul game has given me the target to improve on the team before we face them again.I have worked very hard with the boys in the last fifty meters in the area of shooting and I am very happy because the team is improving especially the strike force”.

He said he is hoping to get results from the team as he has given them so much time to work on the goal scoring aspect.

“If the boys play with confidence, personality and above all motivation we will surely meet our target which is to score and with luck, we will win”.

Lorenzo was quick to add that he has prepared his team for the artificial turf field by holding training sessions that will help them to adjust to the situation.

The team will be travelling with the absence of a very key player in Sanna Nyassi. Who is said to have traveled to the United States of America. But Coach Rubbinacci is aware of this fact as he acknowledged that Sanna Nyassi was very important in the team noting that it is a chance of a lifetime, “ We wish him to be a professional player,” he concluded.