Binneh Minteh Posted the following comment to the posting I made on may 30th.
He wrote:
Ousman, am not making up any stories here. I was at the Denton Bridge when all
these things happened. May be I should have clarified better. Yes Suwareh was in
charge of the TSG personnel on the ground. I was deployed there with a
contingent of the commando unit and some recruits that just completed training
at the time to join him. Suwareh was in fact taken captive after he went to talk
to the insurgents."Can a lieutenant over rule a major as Binneh espouses
here"?Chongan then was an assistant inspector General of Police whose office was
at the Police Headquarters in Banjul. So it was true that he was at the Banjul
side of the bridge. Well under normal circumstances a lieutenant cannot over
rule a major. When chongan gave orders for us to fire, he left the bridge. That
is why I wrote as follows"Upon getting back to my men on the ground, I found
MAJOR CHONGAN givingorders that we should fire at them when they try crossing and then he left the bridge. One thing I learnt as an officer is to deploy and use my men in accordance with the means available. I concluded that resisting
and fighting back at that juncture was poor leadership and just sacrificing our
men."I did not over rule his orders, but as the most senior after suwareh was
taken captive on the other side and after chongan left the bridge, I used my
initiative to pull the men from the bridge and headed to talk to the Inspector
General of Police.
I am still flabbergasted as to how many mediators were at the Denton Bridge on July 22nd 1994. Ebou Colly aka Sam Sarr told us in captivating details on the Gambia-L that he was playing that role. Now by my count, the number is three… Ebou colly, Binneh Minteh and Captain Amadou Suwareh. The later two came from Binneh’s account.
I am not calling Binneh or any one a liar. I wasn’t there. I have an inquisitive mind like everyone else and a conflict in the narratives ignites my Cerebral cortex into action. Haloscan (the comments software) might not be doing Binneh justice. But if you are reading this Mr Minteh and wanted to post a detail response just let me know and I will make sure you are accorded that privilege.