Banjul, Gambia • Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh and his family headed into political exile Saturday night, ending a 22-year reign of fear and a post-election political standoff that threatened to provoke a regional military intervention when he clung to power.
As he mounted the stairs to the plane, he turned to the crowd, kissed his Quran and waved one last time to supporters, including soldiers who cried at his departure.
The flight came almost 24 hours after Jammeh announced on state television he was ceding power to the newly inaugurated Adama Barrow in response to mounting international pressure for his ouster.
Though tens of thousands of Gambians had fled the country during his rule, Jammeh supporters flocked to the airport to see him walk the red carpet to his plane. Women shouted: "Don't go! Don't go!"
Jammeh landed in Guinea an hour later. He and his family then took off for Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, according to an airport official who spoke on condition of anonymity. Equatorial Guinea, unlike Guinea, is not a state party to the International Criminal Court.
Barrow won the December elections, but Jammeh contested the results as calls grew for him to be prosecuted for alleged abuses during his time in power. A regional force had been poised to force out Jammeh if last-ditch diplomatic efforts failed to persuade him to leave.
The situation became so tense that Barrow had to be inaugurated Thursday in neighboring Senegal at the Gambian Embassy after Jammeh's mandate expired at midnight.
Barrow told The Associated Press he would return to Gambia once it is "clear" and a security sweep is completed.
Shortly after Jammeh's departure, the United Nations, African Union and the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS, issued a declaration saying that any country offering him and his family "African hospitality" should not be punished and that he should be free to return to Gambia. It said Jammeh was leaving "temporarily."
The joint statement did not include promises of amnesty but said the world and regional bodies "commit to work with the government of the Gambia to prevent the seizure of assets and properties lawfully belonging to former President Jammeh or his family and those of his Cabinet members, government officials and party supporters."
Jammeh, who seized power in a coup in 1994, once vowed to rule for a billion years. He represented one of a dwindling number of West African leaders staying in office without apparent limit. The success in getting him to leave peacefully may help the region move toward more stable transfers of power.
His departure has brought an end to the political crisis in this impoverished nation of 1.9 million, which promotes itself to overseas tourists as "the Smiling Coast of Africa" while being a major source of migrants heading north toward Europe.
Human rights activists demanded that Jammeh be held accountable for alleged abuses, including torture and detention of opponents.
"Jammeh came as a pauper bearing guns. He should leave as a disrobed despot," said Jeggan Bahoum of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy in Gambia.
An online petition urged that Jammeh not be granted asylum and should instead be arrested. But Barrow cautioned that was premature.
"We aren't talking about prosecution here, we are talking about getting a truth and reconciliation commission," said Barrow. "Before you can act, you have to get the truth, to get the facts together."
In recent days, Jammeh had been holed up in his official residence in Banjul, increasingly isolated as he was abandoned by his security forces and several Cabinet members.
When Jammeh left, the deserted streets came back to life. Restaurants opened, music played and people danced in the streets.
People arrive at the port to take the ferry in Banjul, Gambia as it reopens Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. life slowly returns to the Gambian capital as Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave.AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
People board the ferry after it reopened in Banjul, Gambia Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. As Gambia's defeated authoritarian ruler prepares to leave the country, human rights activists demand that he be held accountable for alleged abuses. Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he will cede power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat that a regional military force would forcibly remove him. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A ferry brings back people who fled to the port in Banjul, Gambia, as it reopens, Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. As Gambia's defeated authoritarian ruler prepares to leave the country, human rights activists demand that he be held accountable for alleged abuses. Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he will cede power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat that a regional military force would forcibly remove him. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A Senegal soldier passes local children near the Gambia border with Senegal in the town of Karang, Senegal, Friday, Jan. 20, 2017. Gambia's defeated President Yahya Jammeh must cede power by noon Friday or he will be dislodged by a regional force that has already moved into the country, West African officials said. (AP Photo/Sylvain Cherkaoui)
In this image taken from TV, Gambia's longtime leader Yahya Jammeh appears on state TV to give a brief statement agreeing to step down from office, in Banjul, Gambia, the early hours of Saturday morning Jan. 21, 2017. Jammeh's decision to step down appears to pave the way for the winner of December's general elections, Adama Barrow to take power. (Gambia State TV via AP)
In this image taken from TV, Gambia's longtime leader Yahya Jammeh appears on state TV to give a brief statement agreeing to step down from office, in Banjul, Gambia, the early hours of Saturday morning Jan. 21, 2017. Jammeh's decision to step down appears to pave the way for the winner of December's general elections, Adama Barrow to take power. (Gambia State TV via AP)
In this image taken from TV, Gambia's longtime leader Yahya Jammeh appears on state TV to give a brief statement agreeing to step down from office, in Banjul, Gambia, the early hours of Saturday morning Jan. 21, 2017. Jammeh's decision to step down appears to pave the way for the winner of December's general elections, Adama Barrow to take power. (Gambia State TV via AP)
A ferry bringing back people who fled arrives at the port in Banjul, Gambia as it reopens Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. life slowly returns to the Gambian capital as Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave.AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A ferry bringing back people who fled arrives at the port in Banjul, Gambia, as it reopens Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. life slowly returns to the Gambian capital as Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
People sit aboard a ferry taking them to Banjul, Gambia, Saturday Jan. 21, 2017, as life slowly returns to the Gambian capital. Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
People board the ferry in Banjul, Gambia, Saturday Jan. 21, 2017, as life slowly returns to normal in the Gambian capital. Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A ferry bringing people back to the capital, arrives at the port in Banjul, Gambia, Saturday Jan. 21, 2017, as life slowly returns to normal in to the Gambian capital. Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
People wait to disembark from a ferry arriving at the port in Banjul, Gambia, Saturday Jan. 21, 2017, as life slowly returns to the Gambian capital. Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Adama Barrow, left, speaks to the media after he was sworn in as President of Gambia at Gambia's embassy in Dakar, Senegal, Thursday, Jan 19, 2017. A new Gambian president has been sworn into office in neighboring Senegal, while Gambia's defeated longtime ruler refuses to step down from power, deepening a political crisis in the tiny West African country. (AP Photo)
In this image taken from video, Gambia's new president Adama Barrow talks during an interview with The Associated Press in Dakar, Senegal, Saturday Jan. 21, 2017, just hours after Yahya Jammeh agreed to step down from office. Barrow said Saturday that he will launch a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the alleged human rights abuses of Yahya Jammeh's 22-year regime. (AP Photo)
Soldiers roll back the red carpet near a parked Gambian Presidential aircraft on the tarmac of Banjul's airport Friday Jan. 20, 2016. The leaders of Guinea and Mauritania have arrived in Gambia's capital in a last-ditch diplomatic effort to get defeated President Yahya Jammeh to cede power to Adama Barrow who was sworn in as Gambian President Thursday. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh waves to supporters as he departs from Banjul airport Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh departs at Banjul airport Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh waves to supporters as he departs at Banjul airport Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh, wearing white, departs at Banjul airport Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
Supporters of Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh watch as his plane prepares for takeoff as he departs at Banjul airport Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. Jammeh announced early Saturday he has decided to relinquish power, after hours of last-ditch talks with regional leaders and the threat by a regional military force to make him leave. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
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