By Mustapha Jallow
The Chief of Defence Staff of the Gambia Armed Forces (GAF), Lieutenant-General Masanneh Kinteh, Tuesday received the ex-Ecomig Commander now Inspector General of the Senegalese Armed Forces, Major General Francois Ndiaye, at the Defence Headquarters in Banjul,.
The close-door talk which took place in the presence of six senior Senegalese military personnel and Commissioned Officers of GAF, harped on military cooperation between the Armed Forces of the two countries. The cooperation is part of efforts aimed at strengthening exceptional relations between the two brotherly countries.
Speaking to journalists, Major Gen. Ndiaye said his mission to the Gambia was to observe how their Forces are operating on the ground; but that before doing so, he had to pay a courtesy call on the military authorities.
‘‘Our mission here is to make sure that everything is on heels and the operations are conducted peacefully. We also want to see how our boys are doing on the ground and visit my brother, Lt. Gen. Kinteh,’’ he concluded.
For his part, Gen. Kinteh said he felt proud to receive the ex-Ecomig leader once again in the Gambia; that Major Gen. Ndiaye’s contribution to the resolution of the conflict in the Gambia, has been remarkable.
The GAF Chief said: ‘‘Ndiaye is a variant peacekeeper and has since been visiting the Gambia. We have been into a lot of military activities and cooperation with the Republic of Senegal. I recently returned from Senegal, and on that occasion, I had the opportunity to interact with Senegalese Military authorities.’’
He however said one of the areas they discussed was training and capacity building on how Senegalese Forces could help GAF in areas where we are not very strong. ‘‘We need to build a strong capacity. We want to thank the Ex-Ecomig Commander for his services in the Gambia,’’ he said.
