Gambia detains BBC reporter in press crackdown

BANJUL, May 31 (Reuters) Gambian security forces detained a local BBC reporter today in what witnesses said was a crackdown on journalists suspected of having links to a controversial U.S.-based online newspaper.

Lamin Cham, a correspondent for the BBC's English language African service, was picked up by National Intelligence Agency (NIA) agents, a colleague working for a local radio station who saw him being detained told Reuters. A BBC spokesman confirmed Cham was in custody.

Political tensions appear to have increased in Gambia in the run-up to presidential elections due in October. Nine army officers and eight civilians are on trial for treason after being accused of taking part in an attempted coup in March.

Cham was the 11th person detained since Friday in a round-up of people suspected of helping, or subscribing to, the online Freedom Newspaper (www.freedomnewspaper.com) run by Gambian journalist Pa Nderry Mbai from the United States.

The government of President Yahya Jammeh, who has ruled the tiny former British colony in West Africa since a coup in 1994, has come under increasing criticism from press freedom groups since a leading independent journalist was killed by gunmen in 2004.

Eight of those arrested on Friday, including two journalists, were released on Tuesday.

The BBC has asked Gambian authorities what happened to Cham, a spokesman for the broadcaster said.

''As we understand he was not arrested but was picked up for questioning, and as we understand he is still being held in custody,'' the spokesman said.

As well as Cham, two more people remained in custody on Wednesday, including the state-employed spokesman for the main hospital in Banjul, who is a journalist by profession.

Paris-based press freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders said Friday's arrests followed the hacking of the Freedom Newspaper Web site on May 22, when the site's usual content, often critical of the government, was replaced with a statement of loyalty to a close associate of President Jammeh.

Reporters Without Borders said the hackers also posted a list of names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of Freedom Newspaper's subscribers, describing them as ''informers''.

''Gambian authorities are responsible for what amounts to a witch hunt,'' Ann Cooper, executive director of the U.S.-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement.

Following the attempted coup in March, two journalists were detained and Reporters Without Borders urged the African Union to send a mediator to Banjul saying the continental body should reconsider plans to hold a heads of state summit there in July.

Reuters VJ VP0230