Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr. to meet with Gambian President over fate of prisoners Rev. Jesse Jackson, Sr is in Banjul, Gambia where he will meet with Gambian President Yahya Jammeh this afternoon to discuss the fate of the country's prisoners that are facing execution. "The goal is to save some lives by getting him to commute some sentences," Jackson told Fox News, referring to the 38 prisoners sitting on Gambia's death row, who could face death by a firing squad at any moment. Last month, President Jammeh announced he was going to execute within a month every prisoner in Gambian jails who has received a death sentence. Nine were shot dead on Aug. 29. The rest were supposed to be dead by Sept. 15, but after receiving calls from Rev Jackson and several international humanitarian groups, President Jammeh told his gunmen to hold their fire, temporarily. "I consider this a victory," Jackson said when asked about Jammeh's 11th hour moratorium on the executions. But, Jackson's work is just getting started. Reverend Jackson has been in contact with President Jammeh on a daily basis for much of the past two weeks. On Thursday, President Jammeh called Jackson to invite him to a face to face in Banjul. Jackson says he hopes to make three main points in his meeting with President Jammeh. "One," Jackson said, "It isn't going to make Jammeh, himself or his country, any safer. Two, killing political prisoners is essentially punishing the whole country with their blood. And three, executing prisoners by firing squad makes a country look less humane. The last factor could hit the tiny country hardest, negativelt affecting its trade dealings and current ranking as a popular tourist destination. "I hope and pray that he will choose the high road," said Jackson referring to his hope Jammeh will reduce certain death sentences to life in prison. At the very least Jackson hopes Jammeh will extend the moratorium on the executions, saying, "If no more wrongly convicted people are killed, that's a victory, too." Jackson says the majority of the prisoners who could face imminent execution are Gambians, but there are also a handful of citizens from neighboring Gambia, Nigeria, and at least one person who also has American citizenship. The nine executions on Aug. 29 were the country's first since 1985. For nearly 10 years, Gambia had no death penalty. President Jammeh reinstated it after he took over the country in a military coup in 1994.