People board the ferry leaving Banjul, Gambia, Wednesday Jan. 18, 2017. Special flights were being organized Wednesday to evacuate British and other tourists from Gambia, where the threat of a regional military intervention loomed as President Yahya Jammeh's mandate expires on Thursday after he lost elections in December. On Tuesday, he declared a state of emergency before he is supposed to cede power to President-elect Adama Barrow. (AP Photo)
People board the ferry leaving Banjul, Gambia, Wednesday Jan. 18, 2017. Special flights were being organized Wednesday to evacuate British and other tourists from Gambia, where the threat of a regional military intervention loomed as President Yahya Jammeh's mandate expires on Thursday after he lost elections in December. On Tuesday, he declared a state of emergency before he is supposed to cede power to President-elect Adama Barrow. (AP Photo)

Dakar, Senegal — After more than two decades in power, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh faced the prospect of a military intervention by regional forces, as the man who once pledged to rule the West African nation for a billion years clung to power.

After a midnight deadline set by the West African regional bloc to step down, there was no word from Jammeh. But Mauritania’s leader appeared to be making a last-ditch diplomatic effort, meeting with Jammeh and then flying to Senegal to meet with its leader and Gambia President-elect Adama Barrow.

Earlier, a military commander with the regional bloc ECOWAS announced that troops were positioning along Gambia’s borders with Senegal.

“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 whether Jammeh would give in to international pressure to cede power to Barrow.

As midnight approached, Jammeh met with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on the crisis. The Mauritanian leader left Gambia shortly before midnight, telling Gambia state television that “I am now less pessimistic (Jammeh) will work on a peaceful solution that is in the best interest for everyone.”

Thousands of Gambians have fled the country, including some former cabinet ministers who resigned in recent days. Hundreds of foreign tourists evacuated on special charter flights, though some continued to relax poolside despite the political turmoil.