Yahya Jammeh asks for extension of deadline for him to leave power

West African leaders are in The Gambia to try to persuade Yahya Jammeh to cede power to his elected successor.

Mr Jammeh has asked for the deadline for him to leave office or be forced out by UN-backed forces to be extended until 16:00GMT on Friday.

Mr Jammeh had been given until noon. The presidents of Guinea and Mauritania have arrived for last-minute talks.

Troops, which crossed from Senegal on Thursday, have been told to halt their advance until the talks are over.

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) is acting in support of new President Adama Barrow, who was sworn in at a ceremony in The Gambia’s embassy in Senegal on Thursday.

Mr Barrow’s legitimacy as president has been recognised internationally, after he won last month’s elections.

Guinea’s President Alpha Conde and Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz arrived in Banjul on Friday morning for the talks with Mr Jammeh.

The chairman of the Ecowas commission, Marcel Alain de Souza, said that if the meeting with Mr Conde proved unsuccessful, military action would follow.

Source: BBC