Gambia's Jammeh reshuffles cabinet after coup attempt

Banjul - Gambia's president Yahya Jammeh reshuffled three major posts in his government, state television reported, a week after a failed coup attempt in the west African nation.

No reason was given in the report late on Monday for the changes at the ministries of foreign affairs, information and transport, but they follow an attack by gunmen on the capital, Banjul, when Jammeh was out of the country late last month.

Neneh MacDouall-Gaye, a former information minister, has been named as foreign affairs minister. Sheriff Bojang, managing editor at The Standard newspaper, was named information minister. Bala Garba Jahumpa, the outgoing foreign minister, will now head the transport ministry.

Jammeh, who came to power in a 1994 coup, has accused foreign-based dissidents of being behind the coup bid. Security forces have made a number of arrests but few details have been released, stoking fears of abuses in a country with a poor human rights record.

Prosecutors in the United States on Monday charged a Texas businessman with bankrolling and trying to lead the coup with the support of a former US Army sergeant.