Foreign Affairs Minister Mamadou Tangara has clarified that the unfortunate situation caused by four top diplomats at the Gambia embassy in Washington had caused no damage to the good name and integrity of The Gambia.

"It has not created any reputational damage. We have not been declared persona-non-grata," Dr Tangara said on Monday at a press conference held at the Ministry's Headquarters in Banjul.

Saying what happened was rather venial, the Foreign Minister went on: "The issue of our diplomats in Washington is rather unfortunate. I am not holding brief for anyone. As far as I know, what we have received there is nothing very serious.

"They gave us timeline to evacuate them and we are doing that and they have even decided to extend it to enable them to come back, because these are family men."

Few days ago, four Gambian diplomats were expelled from the United States in connection with visa fraud and other issues, which led to the US State Department asking the Gambian diplomats to leave the soil of the United States of America.

He further pointed out that as a country "this is an opportunity for us to do more sensitisation with our diplomats before we send them on mission".