Prague, Banjul/Dakar, Jan 19 (CTK) – The Czech Foreign Ministry issued a warning on its website on Thursday in which it recommends that Czech citizens staying in Gambia leave the country that the neighbouring Senegal’s military has entered in support of the newly elected Gambian president, Adam Barrow.
The Czechs who plan to travel to Gambia should postpone their journey as needed, the ministry wrote.
The U.N. has passed a resolution demanding a calm resignation of the present Gambian ruler, Yahya Jammeh, which he has refused to do as he does not recognise the election result.
Jammeh declared the state of emergency in the country earlier this week.
Senegal is a member of the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), which threatened with a military intervention unless Jammeh does not step down.
There are dozens of Czech tourists in Gambia now, but none of them is endangered, the Czech Association of Travel Agencies has said.
Nevertheless, some Czechs may be staying in the country individually, independently from travel agencies, Jan Papez, from the association, told the Aktualne.cz server.
Barrow took his presidential oath at the Gambian embassy in the Senegalese capital Dakar.
Jammeh remains in his residence in the Gambian capital, reportedly supported by only a part of the Gambian army.
Gambia had only two presidents in the past half-century, Dawda Jawara and Yahya Jammeh, who came to power through a coup in 1994.
Human rights organisations accuse him of the death of many political opponents, suppression of the rights of homosexuals and tough approach to media.
