The Case of El-Faisal And President Jammeh

The controversial Muslim Clergyman, Abdullah el-Faisal, deported last week by Kenyan authorities to Gambia is reported to be back in Kenya because on his way to The Gambia, Lagos Nigeria airline authorities refused to take him onboard.  The ball is now back in Kenya’s court and while the authorities in Banjul are basking in the tranquil that the brief reprieve offers, they may shortly have to face the fact of Mr. el-Faisal’s arrival.  

Last Thursday, January 7^th, Kenya’s Immigration Minister Otieno Kajwang said Mr. Faisal’s history of radical statements and connections with convicted terrorists made him a threat to Kenya’s security and was therefore being deported.  He further stated that, faced with the deportation order, el-Faisal chose The Gambia and he was deported to that country and that Gambia has received him. As it turned out, this statement was not factual according to Gambian authorities; the Public Relations Officer of the Gambia Immigration Department, Cadet Inspector Lamin K. Manneh was reported to have told the Daily News that, “We don’t have the name of this man on our list of immigrants. We are not aware of his arrival in The Gambia… reports about his deportation to the country is not correct.”  On Monday 11^th January, a Kenyan rights group, Muslim Human Rights Forum said the preacher landed in Kenya on the morning of Sunday January 9^th. They add that Mr. el-Faisal was spotted by Muslim leaders and human rights activists on Sunday at the Industrial Area Prison in the capital Nairobi.  The alleged terrorist has become something like a hot potato in the hands of Kenyan authorities who do not know how to get rid of him and how the authorities in Banjul will receive him. Will he be welcomed like a hero, like any other refugee, or will they reject him?

His arrest last week was the second time the authorities in Kenya have attempted to deport the Jamaican born radical convert to Islam. The British government said Mr. el-Faisal's firebrand teachings had influenced one of the bombers who carried out the 2005 transport network bombings in London that killed 52 people. Tanzania, from where he had entered Kenya in the first place, is reported to have declined to allow him to stay.  Both Britain and South Africa would not even allow him transit visas after his deportation orders were announced by Kenyan authorities.

What would the Gambian authorities, or to be more exact , President Yahya Jammeh, the country’s sole tyrannical ruler, do about the el-Faisal case if he were to arrive at the Banjul International Airport by air or Amdalai immigration post  by land? What consequence will this have for people travelling to and from The Gambia? What does Mr. El-Feisal’s current plight, with rejections from Britain, South Africa and Tanzania, tell on respect for the rights of refugees as enshrined in the Geneva Convention of 1952?  What if Mr. el-Faisal’s arrival leads to the whole country being classified a terrorist haven?

President Jammeh himself dresses like one of those clerics and recently had himself named a Sheikh, a title that many laugh at but that he takes with mighty seriousness.  In line with his Jola cultural traditions, Jammeh is first an animist, a cultist, fetishist,  and then secondarily he can pay allegiance to any organized religion that appears to be required under the circumstances; when he was a young helpless boy and lived as a ward of a devout Catholic family, he called himself James and  went to church, but when he stumbled into political power in a country with over 90% Muslim population , he renamed himself Aziz, grabbed the attire of ancient African jihadists like Samory Touray  to make his permanent wear and, like them, always carries the sword and a copy of the Holy Quran.

Another thing the Gambian leader shares with his guest-to-be is his rabid anti-Western sentiments.  That El-Faisal’s sentiments are rooted in Caribbean Garveyism that has metamorphosed into radical Islam while that of Jammeh’s is wavering, superficial and only political, does not matter much in this case.  Few years ago, Gambian authorities were known to be engaged in the rendition of some suspected terrorists visiting The Gambia. The suspected men were secretly handed over to CIA operatives who flew them out to Egypt for investigation and probable torture.  Gambian authorities also deported a visiting South African cleric and his son visiting from Durban. At the time Jammeh wanted to appear to former President Bush as a close ally in the fight against international terrorism.  He however was over-doing the pretensions because his record of pretending to be a devout Muslim was also too much on the other way. Every state building in the country had inscriptions from the Holy Quran painted on its entrance wall.  Every state office had a mosque constructed and when it is time for the 14.00 hours prayers all work comes to a standstill. Once upon a time President Jammeh threatened to introduce Sharia law in the country. Jammeh has managed to amass substantial support because of this Muslim poise.  What will he now do with el-Faisal?

Perhaps it would have been easier for Jammeh if the Kenyan Foreign Minister had not spilled the beans before el-Faisal had arrived in Banjul. Then Jammeh would have even turned the case into his advantage.  Foreign governments would have expressed interest in having a system of close watch over the cleric and Jammeh would have something in exchange. But taking the man in now would be like defying the West and their concern for international terror. Delayed resolution of the problem with airlines continuing to refuse to have him on board would add to the drama and publicity and likelier, also inflate the weight of the defiance. Turning Mr. el-Faisal away would not only lose him some support among the Gambia’s steadily growing numbers of born-again Muslims but could possibly dent his standing within the international Muslim Ummah.  Mr. el-Faisal’s case may be a hot potato in Nairobi, but it sure would not be a frozen one in Banjul.