On a continent famous for its wayward leaders, Jammeh stands out for his sheer eccentricity.
The man who likes to be called "His Excellency Sheikh Professor Doctor President" has acted entirely in character by announcing his country's departure, apparently on a whim.
It was only last year that Jammeh chose to mark the Muslim festival of Eid by announcing that 38 prisoners with capital sentences would all be shot. Traditionally, this celebration at the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is supposed to be marked by gestures of clemency. He later ordered a stay of execution.
On August 19 last year, however, Jammeh announced that capital sentences would be carried out "to the letter", adding: "There is no way my Government will allow 99 per cent of the population to be held to ransom by criminals." Four days later, eight men and one woman held in Mile 2 jail near Gambia's capital, Banjul, were executed by firing squad.
Last month, speaking at the UN, he declared that homosexuals were "very evil" and posed a great threat to human existence, before announcing that all homosexuals should leave Gambia and that anyone disobeying his order would be beheaded.
Jammeh seized power 19 years ago from Sir Dawda Jawara when he was a 29-year-old lieutenant. He was simply the first army officer to reach the presidential palace in Banjul.
Jammeh's rule over Gambia, a tiny enclave within Senegal which achieved independence from Britain in 1965, has become of steadily greater concern to human rights organisations and Western governments.
