African troops on standby to end Gambia crisis

Nigeria sent troops and fighter jets to Senegal in a show of military force Wednesday aimed at persuading Gambian President Yahya Jammeh to finally surrender power after an election defeat.

Jammeh's mandate was due to end at midnight in Banjul but in recent weeks has steadfastly refused to leave office, prompting west African states to up the pressure on him after weeks of failed diplomacy.

The 51-year-old Gambian leader announced a state of emergency on Tuesday, saying it was necessary because of interference from foreign powers in the country's December 1 election.

Jammeh lost the poll to outsider Adama Barrow, who is currently sheltering in Senegal. In New York on Wednesday, its government requested United Nations support for regional action against the long-time president.

The Nigerian Air Force said it had deployed 200 soldiers and air assets -- including jets, transport aircraft and a helicopter -- to Senegal as part of a regional force geared at enforcing Barrow's election victory.

"The deployment is also to forestall hostilities or breakdown of law and order that may result from the current political impasse in The Gambia," it added in a statement.

Barrow maintains his inauguration will go ahead on Thursday on Gambian soil.

The 15-nation Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) has repeatedly urged Jammeh to respect the outcome of the vote and step aside.

Mauritarian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz was also headed to Banjul on Wednesday, seeking "a solution to The Gambia crisis," an official in Nouakchott said.

Senegal had presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council seeking support for west African efforts to press Jammeh to step down, diplomats said in New York.

As the tension rising, Britain and the Netherlands issued travel advisory warnings, with around 1,000 British tourists expected to leave on special flights on Wednesday alone.

James Gomez, the inauguration's head organiser who spoke with Barrow twice on Tuesday, said plans for the transfer of power in a huge stadium outside the capital Banjul were now cancelled.

Under the Gambian constitution a state of emergency lasts up to 90 days if the national assembly confirms it -- which the legislature did late Tuesday.

The country's vice-president Isatou Njie-Saidy resigned Wednesday, family sources said, along with environment minister Pa Ousman Jarju, the latest in a mass string of cabinet members deserting Jammeh's government.

- Tourist disappointment -

Tourists were streaming out of the country, leaving the small airport near Banjul struggling to handle extra flights.

Brian and Yvonne Souch, from Witney in southern England, told AFP they were unaware of the potential risk of flying to the country 10 days ago and felt tour company Thomas Cook should have kept them better informed.

"We didn't know anything until we came down for breakfast," Brian Souch said, sitting in shorts and sleeveless T-shirt in the lobby of a hotel in the Kololi tourist strip as he awaited a bus to the airport.

Thomas Cook said additional flights into Banjul airport would bring home 1,000 package holidaymakers, followed by up 2,500 more at the "earliest possible flight availability".

Holidaymakers were told that Thomas Cook flights would cease in a few days time, leaving them at risk of being stranded.

The Dutch travel firm TUI Nederland told AFP on Tuesday it would repatriate "about 800" clients.

Some tourists were unfazed by the news as the state of emergency, however, as their countries had not issued travel alerts.

"We have over two weeks left and we are staying," said Mariann Lundvall, who flew into Banjul to escape Finland's freezing winter.

The panic caused by the state of emergency could prove financially devastating -- experts say up to 20 percent of the economy comes from tourism.

Gambians were taking precautions and stocking up on food and supplies in the few shops that remained open in districts near the capital, with roads quiet and street hawkers notably absent.

A source told AFP that patients at Banjul's Edward Francis Small Teaching Hospital, which sits opposite Jammeh's seat of power, were removed for security reasons. Only those in intensive care remained.

Fatou Sarr, a resident of the fishing community of Old Jeshwang, said: "Only a few shops had bread this morning and they ran out of stock very early. If this stalemate drags on for a week or two, the country will run out."