Eq. Guinea opposition denounces arrival of Gambia’s Jammeh

Senegalese troops negotiate with Gambian republican guard, 2nd left, outside the State House in Banjul, Gambia, Monday Jan. 23, 2017, two days after Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh left the country. Troops of Economic Community of West African States have moved into the State House to prepare for the return of new President Adama Barrow.(AP Photo/Jerome Delay)

By Associated Press January 23, 2017 2 min read

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) – Equatorial Guinea’s opposition denounced the government’s decision to welcome exiled Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, who flew to the Central African nation over the weekend after 22 years in power.

President Teodoro Obiang will be held responsible “for what might occur” as a result of Jammeh’s presence on the country’s soil, according to a statement emailed Monday by Andres Esono Ondo, secretary general of the opposition Convergence for Social Democracy.

Jammeh should not qualify for political asylum because he triggered Gambia’s crisis by refusing to step down for weeks after he lost the December vote to Adama Barrow, said the Democratic Opposition Front, in a separate statement Sunday.

“We are not against Pan-Africanism, but we are in favor of a more objective Pan-Africanism that does not consist in just bringing over the waste of Africa,” the group said.

Obiang’s government has not yet commented on Jammeh’s presence in Equatorial Guinea.