In the small, impoverished nation of the Gambia hundreds of young girls were handpicked this summer to attend educational Islamic camps funded in part by Saudi Arabia. The camps aim to promote a conservative religious lifestyle, raising concerns among some Gambians about a growing influence of Islam in their society.

Dozens of girls sing an Islamic song at this camp just outside Banjul.

They were picked from different neighborhoods of the capital city. Some of the brightest primary, high school and university students were among those selected.

"The main goal of this youth camp for females is to inculcate in the participants Islamic religious education," said Jaimaba Dibba, the camp's organizer. "Islam covers everything. It has left no stone unturned. Islam is a way of life. We want to inculcate in the youth who are going to be the leaders of tomorrow Islamic religious education."...

..."We're getting a lot of Gambians going to the Arab world for education - Islamic knowledge - and when they come back, they are always eager, actually, to introduce new things here, things that they've seen in the Arab world," he [Banjul journalist, Demba Jawo] said. "They have a feeling the girls, the young people in this country are actually being led astray and they feel that they should do something to reverse the trend. That is why they are coming up with all these things."

Mr. Jawo says some Gambians have expressed a concern the new Islamic teachers will help create friction between Muslim and non-Muslim communities.

"Even though, the Gambians, the majority of the people in the Gambia are Muslims, but [before] there was very little distinction between Muslims and Christians when there is a Christian feast like Christmas or other Christian feasts everybody tended to join in the feast," explained Demba Jawo.

Now, he says, the girls at the camps are being told to ignore non-Muslim celebrations.

He warns Islamic hard-liners could turn from educators into a vocal and violent political force for the establishment of Islamic law in the Gambia.