Yahya Jammeh clings to power in Gambia as deadline passes
Gambia President Yahya Jammeh was clinging to power despite a midnight deadline set by the West African bloc for him to step down.
As the the deadline passed, there was no word from Mr Jammeh, who has been in power for more than two decades and once pledged to rule for a billion years.
Earlier, a military commander with the regional bloc known as ECOWAS announced that troops were positioning along Gambia's borders.
"The mandate of the president is finished at midnight," declared Seydou Maiga Moro, speaking on Senegalese radio station RFM.
"All the troops are already in place," he added, saying they were merely waiting to see if Mr Jammeh would bow to international pressure to cede power to President-elect Adama Barrow.
As midnight approached, Mr Jammeh met Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz over the crisis. The Mauritanian plane left Gambia shortly before midnight.
Thousands of Gambians have fled the country, including some former cabinet ministers who resigned in recent days.
Hundreds of foreign tourists were evacuating on special charter flights, though some continued to relax poolside despite the political turmoil.
Gambia is a popular beach destination in winter, especially for tourists from Britain, the former colonial power.
The central area of the Gambian capital, Banjul, was empty late on Wednesday, with all shops closed.
But there was no visible military presence apart from a checkpoint at the entrance to the city, despite the threat of incoming forces.
Tiny Gambia is surrounded by Senegal and the Atlantic Ocean.
Late on Wednesday, witnesses reported Senegalese soldiers deploying in the Senegalese Kaolack region, north of Gambia, and in the southern Senegalese region of Casamance.
In another sign of the international pressure, Nigeria confirmed a warship was heading toward Gambia for "training" and RFM radio reported that Nigerian military equipment had begun arriving in Dakar.
Ghana also has pledged to contribute militarily.
The regional bloc was seeking the UN Security Council's endorsement of its "all necessary measures" to remove Mr Jammeh.
"There is a sense that the whole situation rests in the hands of one person, and it's up to that person, the outgoing president of the Gambia, to draw the right conclusions," said Sweden's UN Ambassador Olof Skoog, the current council president.
The opposition has vowed to go ahead with Mr Barrow's inauguration.
It was unclear whether Mr Barrow would take the oath at a Gambian Embassy outside the country or if he would return.
