Reliable sources have intimated to this paper that Omar Gibril Sallah has been reinstated as The Gambia’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia.
Recently, Sallah’s services were terminated and he was recalled and was winding up to return to Banjul. However, according to credible sources, The Government of The Gambia through the Personnel Management Office wrote to Mr Sallah within the past 48 hours reinstating him.
Mr Sallah’s reappointment came a day after a fracas involving one Mr Saikou Jarju, a first secretary at the embassy, who forcibly tried to remove a fax machine from the outgoing ambassador’s office but was prevented.
Mr Jarju reportedly directed “uncouth language” at Ambassador Sallah, telling him that he was no longer the ambassador. He allegedly threatened to “report” the ambassador to the Saudi police. Jarju, who used to be a hajj cookery supervisor, was eventually restrained and removed from the ambassador’s office by the staff.
A veteran diplomat last night told this paper that such behaviour was “unbecoming” a staffer of The Gambia’s diplomatic mission in the kingdom.
He described Ambassador Sallah as “a man of great disposition who has earned his spurs and excelled as a civil servant and a diplomat for close to half a century serving The Gambia and her people with merit and distinction at home and abroad.”
Meanwhile, Contacted for confirmation about Mr Sallah’s reappointment, the press officer at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Saikou Ceesay, said: “The decision to recall and terminate his service has been rescinded.” He declined to elaborate.
Mr Sallah was initially appointed The Gambia’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, covering Lebanon, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman and Islamic Conference in early May 2010.
