Defending their ROOTS: Gambians battle to save Kunta Kinte island from erosion to preserve the history of tens of thousands of slaves who were chained, branded then shipped abroad

• 
  
• Island was the site where tens of thousands of African slaves were branded before being sent to the Americas
• The island has shrunk to a sixth of its original size and is under threat from erosion and neglect
• Kinte's descendants and heritage officials warn that without action 550 years of history could be lost 
• 
  

As the rebel slave who defied his captors, Kunta Kinte immortalised in print and on screen in 'Roots', put The Gambia on the map for historical tourism.

But the island where he and tens of thousands of west African slaves faced the horrors of being chained, branded and separated before leaving their homeland forever, is under threat from erosion and neglect.

Kinte's descendants, along with heritage officials, warn that without urgent action, 550 years of history could be lost.

+15

The descendants of slaves are urging action to preserve historial sites on Gambia's Kunta Kinte island

+15

Ruins of a building on the island which is under threat from erosion and neglect

+15

A view of the island from the water. Kinte's descendants are pressuring the government to preserve the land

They are pressuring the new government to preserve the country's historical memory for the next generation of Gambians and tourists.

The island's namesake sprang to fame as the central character in American author Alex Haley's 'Roots: The Saga of an American Family'.

The late Haley claimed to be a descendant of Kinte but doubts have been cast over the authenticity of this claim.

Although 'Roots' has been criticised for historical inaccuracies, it indisputably heightened awareness of the horrors of the slave trade when published in 1976.

+15

Mariama Fofana, believed to be an eighth-generation descendent of Kunta Kinte, sits in her home in Juffureh in The Gambia

+15

Kunta Kinte has been immortalised in print and on screen in 'Roots' played by LeVar Burton

The UN's cultural agency awarded the island World Heritage status as a memorial to an 'important, although painful, period of human history', spanning the arrival of Portuguese traders in the mid-15th century through to its use as a holding cell for illegal slavers after Britain´s abolition of the trade in 1807.

The parched-looking trees and brick ruins that occupy the island once housed dozens of captured west Africans awaiting passage to the New World, but whole sections of the slaves' quarters have already been reclaimed by the river's salty waves and high winds.

For Hassoum Ceesay, a historian and official at The Gambia's National Centre for Arts and Culture, it is time to seize the chance to reverse what he describes as two decades of neglect under former leader Yahya Jammeh, or risk losing the island.

+15

The former fort, which passed between Portuguese, Dutch, French and British hands, has receded to a sixth of its original size by some estimates

+15

The parched-looking trees and brick ruins that occupy the island once housed dozens of captured west Africans awaiting passage to the Americas

+15

The remains of buildings on Kunta Kinte island in the Gambia River, previously used for the slave trade

'We are very hopeful that with this new government there will be more attention paid,' he told AFP in a book-lined room at his home near the capital, Banjul, referring to President Adama Barrow, who took office in February.

'There was a lot of pressure, particularly from the former president, to sort of sift the history of the island,' he said. 'We resisted, and that resistance made the government reduce its attention and support.'

He said that Jammeh even added mandatory days in his home village, Kanilai, to a tour aimed at diaspora tourists as part of a 'Roots' festival, even though it is unrelated to the site.

Tourism numbers were badly hit by the protracted political crisis caused by Jammeh's refusal to quit after 22 years at the helm when he lost an election in December, another concern for heritage experts.

+15

Kunta Kinte islan lies on the Gambia River, 30 km from the river mouth and near Juffureh

+15

A pier leading to the island, formerly known as James Island

UNESCO, which declared the island and its nearby villages a World Heritage site in 2003, describes it as 'extremely vulnerable to erosion' and 'needing protection'. It is dispatching a team this summer to assess the site's condition.

Visitors need only glance at old maps to see by how much the former fort, which passed between Portuguese, Dutch, French and British hands, has already receded -- to a sixth of its original size by some estimates.

'The island was reclaimed from the river, so as time went on, with global warming, erosion became more pronounced,' Ceesay said.

He wants the international community to undertake a total revamp of Kunta Kinte island and related sites, which include a colonial warehouse and a Portuguese settlement.

+15

Historian Hassoum Ceesay hopes the island can attract funding to ensure its future

+15

Kinte's descendants, along with heritage officials, warn that without urgent action 550 years of history could be lost

+15

Kinte's descendant said young Gambians see him as 'a role model and someone who believes in the values they stand for'

Ceesay hopes the island can attract funding to ensure its future and wants to see investment in tour guide training, a resource centre, more focused educational tours and the development of the River Gambia for pleasure cruises.

In this small, poverty-stricken and largely rural nation, national heroes such as Kinte are few and far between and citizens feel that much is at stake.

Speaking at her family compound in the village of Juffureh close to the island, Mariama Fofana, believed to be an eighth-generation descendent of Kinte's, said young Gambians see him as 'a role model and someone who believes in the values they stand for'

+15

In this small, poverty-stricken and largely rural nation, national heroes such as Kinte are few and far between

+15

Whole sections of the slaves' quarters have already been reclaimed by the river's salty waves and high winds

It was, she said, 'a concern to everyone, (that) the island is getting eroded each and every day,' urging international donors to provide funding that the cash-strapped government may not be able to afford.

Everything from naval ships to beach bars are named after Kinte in The Gambia, and his story has seen a renaissance with a recent remake of the 'Roots' mini-series, and a name check in US rapper Kendrick Lamar's recent single 'King Kunta'.

But the slave who refused to take the name given to him by his American owners, and whose foot was cut off after multiple escape attempts, according to Haley's account, still inspires pride.

'We need to know about our history. That is the only way we can truly understand our potential,' said Lamin Jammeh, a 17-year-old secondary school student who was waiting to visit the island for the first time.

Learning about Kinte was a way to 'learn and start moving forward,' he added.

How US could stop a North Korean missile

The Pukkuksong submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) were on parade. It was the first time North Korea had shown the missiles, which have a range of more than 1,000 km (600 miles), at a military parade.

Displaying more than one of the missiles indicates North Korea is progressing with its plan to base a missile on a submarine, which are hard to detect, said Joshua Pollack, editor of the Washington-based Nonproliferation Review.

"It suggests a commitment to this program," said Pollack. "Multiple SLBMs seems like a declaration of intent to advance the program."

North Korea, still technically at war with the South after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce but not a treaty, has on occasion conducted missile or nuclear tests to coincide with big political events and often threatens the United States, South Korea and Japan.

Choe Ryong Hae, a close aide to Kim Jong Un, addressed the packed square with a characteristically bellicose warning to the United States.

"If the United States wages reckless provocation against us, our revolutionary power will instantly counter with annihilating strike, and we will respond to full-out war with full-out war and to nuclear war with our style of nuclear strike warfare," he said.

+4

A new report, created by UN experts, suggests that North Korea has almost completed work on its advanced submarine missile program

+4

In December, satellite images of the Sinpo South Shipyard sparked speculation that a weapon could be launched imminently

Story highlights

• US tracked North Korean missile with Aegis ballistic missile defense, Pentagon says
• US, Japan, South Korea operate Aegis-equipped warships

(CNN)North Korea's test of a ballistic missile last month showed new, more dangerous capabilities in its missile program, but the Pentagon says the US and its Asian allies have defenses to deal with threat.

When North Korea launched the missile on February 12, the US Navy had two destroyers in the Sea of Japan with the ability to shoot it down, a US defense official said.

The guided missile destroyers, USS Stethem and USS McCampbell, are equipped with the Aegis ballistic missile defense system, which is able to track 100 missiles simultaneously and fire interceptors to take out an enemy's ballistic projectiles.

ANALYSIS: Nikki Haley adds to tough talk with North Korea response

The Aegis-equipped guided-missile destroyer USS Stethem sails in formation as part of an exercise off South Korea in 2016.

"We worked very quickly with our Japanese and South Korean allies to make sure that it did not pose a threat to them either. As you know we maintain abilities to be able to respond quickly and intercept missiles from North Korea if they do pose a threat to us or our allies," a Pentagon spokesman, US Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, said.

The North Korean launch involved the first land-based test of an intermediate-range missile that, in the past, has been fired from a submarine, two US officials said.

And because it was launched from a missile site on North Korea's west coast, it flew farther than any previous North Korean tests, about 300 miles before dropping into the Sea of Japan.

RELATED: Trump's patio situation room raises security questions

A South Korean lawmaker's office said the North Korean missile could have gone even farther.

"The missile was launched at 89 degrees, and if it were to be launched at normal angle, which is 45 degrees, it could fly over 2,000 kilometers (1,242 miles). This launch shows that North Korea's missile technology is constantly progressing," said a statement from the office of Lee Cheol-woo, who was briefed by South Korea's National Intelligence Service.

US officials noted that the missile, the Pukguksong-2, used solid rocket fuel, making it harder to detect an imminent launch because it requires less fueling time on the launch pad.

But the Aegis system, which is in the arsenals of the US, Japan and South Korea, enables early detection of missile threats and provides the ability to track those missiles for interception later in their flights, according to Lockheed Martin, the prime contractor behind the system.

"The Aegis system is very capable at tracking and engaging ballistic missile systems," said Carl Schuster, a Hawaii Pacific University professor and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center.

Ballistic missiles use a high, arching trajectory to reach their targets. Aegis, using powerful AN/SPY-1 radar on warships nearest the launch site, picks up the missiles during their ascent phase.

RELATED: North Korea's missile launch points to advances

Those nearby ships can fire interceptors to strike the ballistic missile early in its flight, or send tracking data to ships farther along the ballistic missile's flight path, so it can be destroyed when it is near its highest point.

President Donald Trump's pivot on Asia 03:00

Aegis does have the ability to link data between US, Japanese and South Korean warships, Schuster said. But it has limitations, too.

While the US system can work with either Japan or South Korea, the three cannot work together because there is no one data encryption system that works among them, Schuster said.

And Bruce Bennett, senior defense analyst with the Rand Corporation, says the South Korean Aegis destroyers are not equipped with the interceptors necessary to take out enemy ballistic missiles.

Aegis can also work with other missile defense systems -- such as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which is to be deployed in South Korea this year, or the Patriot missile defense.

But those systems have a more limited range, elevating the importance of Aegis ships, where they are, and how often they are deployed.

"I think the US needs to position its Aegis ships in the right part of the Sea of Japan to intercept a North Korean missile test and that the US Navy has not been doing that on a regular basis," Bennett said.

US, Japan conduct successful missile interception test

While Aegis has been successful in intercepting ballistic missiles during tests, it has not been used to take out one in combat.

In what some say is the system's most noteworthy success, Aegis was used to destroy an inoperable spy satellite in 2008 when officials feared the satellite could crash to Earth and potentially release a cloud of toxic gas.

The US Navy has 22 guided-missile cruisers and 62 guided-missile destroyers equipped with the Aegis system. Japan has six Aegis destroyers with plans for more. South Korea operates three Aegis-equipped destroyers.

http://