US charges two men over failed Gambia coup

U.S. prosecutors have charged two men for their role in the failed Dec. 30 coup attempt to overthrow the government of Gambia, the U.S. Justice Department said on Monday.

U.S. citizen Cherno Njie, 57, and U.S.-Gambia dual national Papa Faal, 46, are expected to appear in federal courts in Baltimore, Maryland and Minneapolis, Minnesota, separately later on Monday, the department said in a statement.

The two went to the small West African country to help launch the coup attempt against President Yahya Jammeh's government and both were arrested in the United States after they returned from Gambia, according to the statement.

Faal reportedly told FBI investigators that he joined "the attempted coup" and that Njie is one of the coup's leaders and main financiers.

"These defendants stand accused of conspiring to carry out the violent overthrow of a foreign government, in violation of U.S. law," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in the statement.

"The United States strongly condemns such conspiracies. With these serious charges, the United States is committed to holding them fully responsible for their actions," said Holder.

A dozen people entered Gambia earlier this year, expecting that "others in the country join and assist them," according to court documents.

Gambian authorities said they thwarted the invasion on the presidential palace on Dec. 30, and Jammeh last week accused unidentified foreign dissidents and "terrorists" of being behind the attack.

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