Source: https://gambia.smbcgo.com/2017/05/26/gambias-govt-mute-on-sectarian-divide-between-sunni-and-ahmadi-muslims/ | Written by Sam Phatey

Gambia’s government remain quite over sectarian tensions that nearly turned violent over burial rights in a suburb outside the capital, Banjul.

Ahmadis Muslims have claimed to be targets of attacks inspired by Sunni clerics backed by the powerful Supreme Islamic Council amid call for their protection by the police.

Ahmadis were denied burial rights in Tallinding that led to confrontations with Sunni Muslims in the township, which saw the deployment of riot police officers to keep in from flaring.

Neither Gambia’s President Adama Barrow, his Special Advisor for Traditional and Religious Affairs Dembo Bojang or Interior Minister  Mai Ahmad Fatty have made any statement regarding the situation.

A controversial Gambian Sunni cleric, Imam Abdoulie Fatty, who had called for extinction of Ahmadis in the tiny West African state insists the sect must have their own burial site to avoid future clashes.

Barrow returned from Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, where he performed the Muslim ritual of Umrah and met with Saudi’s King Salman at the Islamic-America Summit in Riyadh.

Gambia’s constitution guarantees religious freedom. Barrow upon assuming power reversed some of Jammeh unilateral decisions, including the decision to declare the Gambia an Islamic nation.