By:Fatou Krubally
Retired Lieutenant Colonel Samsudeen Sarr has called on The Gambia to step up and exercise its leadership role as current chair of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), amid escalating hostilities between Iran and Israel.
In a strongly worded opinion, Sarr urged the government to break its silence and take an active diplomatic stance as tensions rise in the Middle East following Israel’s recent strikes on Iranian nuclear and energy infrastructure. Retired Lieutenant Colonel Sarr, asserted that The Gambia’s position as OIC chair places it in a unique position to call for de-escalation and promote dialogue between the two sides.
He urged Foreign Minister Dr Mamadou Tangara, to publicly articulate the government’s position. “The vital task of enlightening the citizenry on this subject cannot, and must not, be left to the capable Information Minister Dr. Ismaila Ceesay alone,” Sarr stressed.
He directed a respectful appeal to veteran journalist Peter Gomez, host of the widely followed Coffee Time radio programme, to invite Dr Tangara onto the platform.
The retired colonel argued that failure to act could reduce Gambia’s OIC chairmanship to a symbolic title, rather than a meaningful diplomatic role. He called on the government to use its current standing to condemn attacks on civilian and economic infrastructure, and to offer itself as a venue for shuttle diplomacy involving the UN, ECOWAS, and the African Union.
