West African armies late Thursday halted an
operation in Gambia aimed at installing the
country’s new president, Adama Barrow.
The decision is to enable regional leaders make
one last attempt to convince longtime ruler
Yahya Jammeh to step aside.

Barrow took the oath of office on Thursday at
Gambia’s embassy in Senegal, calling for
international support from West Africa’s
ECOWAS bloc, the AU and the UN.
A regional military force launched an
intervention effort, dubbed Operation Restore
Democracy, shortly after the former opposition
figure was sworn in.

“We think that up until the last minute there is
still a solution through dialogue,” said Marcel
de Souza, head of the ECOWAS commission,
explaining the decision to suspend the advance
to reporters in Dakar late on Thursday.
During his inauguration speech Barrow
appealed to ECOWAS, the African Union and the
United Nations for support for his government
and Gambia’s people.
“This is a day no Gambian will ever forget,”
Barrow said after taking the oath, which was
administered by the president of Gambia’s bar
association.

“Our national flag will now fly high among the
most democratic nations of the world.”
Jammeh, in power since a 1994 coup, initially
conceded defeat to Barrow following a Dec. 1
election before back-tracking, saying the vote
was flawed.
De Souza said a total of 7,000 troops from
Senegal, Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Mali would
be