UN Security Council urges Gambia president to transfer power

The U.N. Security Council is again urging Gambia’s longtime ruler Yahya Jammeh to respect the country’s presidential election results and transfer power to President-elect Adama Barrow by Jan. 19.

The United Nations’ most powerful body said in a presidential statement read at an open council meeting Wednesday it was “encouraged” by decisions by the regional group known as ECOWAS and the African Union to recognize Barrow as president-elect.

It commended ECOWAS initiatives “aimed at ensuring a peaceful and orderly transition process.”

Jammeh conceded defeat following the Dec. 1 election but rejected the result a week later citing voting irregularities.

The council urged Gambian defence and security forces to “demonstrate maximum restraint to maintain an atmosphere of calm in Banjul,” the capital, and urged Barrow’s security to be “fully ensured.”