Syria’s Assad says military gains will speed up political deal Syrian army successes will help accelerate a political settlement to the country’s civil war, President Bashar al-Assad said, because they weaken the position of international opponents who he accused of hindering any agreement.
In an interview published as government forces, backed by heavy Russian air power, maintained an offensive against Islamic State militants, Assad said his government « continue to be flexible » in its approach to talks aimed at ending the war. « However at the same time, these victories will have an impact on the forces and nations which hinder a settlement because those states, first of all, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, France and Great Britain, are betting on our defeat on the battlefield in order to enforce their terms during the talks, » he said.
He was speaking in an interview with Russia’s RIA news agency published on Tuesday, two days after government forces backed by intense Russian air power drove Islamic State militants out of Palmyra, delivering one of the biggest setbacks to the jihadist group since it declared a caliphate in Syria and Iraq in 2014.
Indirect peace talks at the United Nations in Geneva adjourned on Thursday after making little progress. The talks were able to go ahead after a limited truce, sponsored by the United States and Russia, took effect last month – although it excludes Islamic State and the Nusra Front groups.
U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura says he wants the negotiations to address political transition, which he called the « mother of all issues ». But before the talks started, the Syrian government said the issue of the presidency was a red line.
However Assad told RIA that the government delegation displayed flexibility at the talks with the opposition « in order not to miss a single chance » for settlement.Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last week that Moscow’s position that Assad’s future should not be discussed at the moment had finally found understanding in Washington.
But a senior member of Syria’s opposition leading negotiations with Damascus said on Tuesday that Assad’s future should be the main topic of the talks in Geneva, and Moscow’s call not to discuss this aims at undermining the negotiations. Moscow’s military intervention helped turn the tide of Syria’s five year conflict in Assad’s favour, after rebels had made significant gains last year in northwest Syria. »Russia’s military support, the support provided by Syria’s friends and the military achievements of the Syrian army – all this will lead to the speeding up of political settlement, and not vice versa, » Assad said.
TOWN ENCIRCLED Remaining Islamic State fighters had withdrawn on Tuesday from positions northeast of Palmyra, where they had fought the army a day earlier, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Russian and Syrian jets targeted the town of Sukhna, about 60 km (40 miles) northeast of Palmyra where many retreating Islamic State fighters had sought refuge, the Observatory said.State media said the army and its militia allies also captured territory around al-Qaryatain, about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of Palmyra, including farmland to the south and a mountain area to the west.
« The town is almost encircled, » the Observatory’s director Rami Abdulrahman said. Russian jets carried 29 raids on al-Qaryatain on Tuesday morning alone, he said.
If the army takes al-Qaryatain, Sukhna and other pockets of Islamic State control, it will sharply reduce the jihadist group’s ability to project military power into the heavily populated western region of Syria, where Damascus and other main cities are located.Russia and Iran, Assad’s two main allies, both pledged to continue support for Damascus after the capture of Palmyra.
France, a key backer of opposition forces in Syria, said the Islamic State defeat in Palmyra was positive news, but should not divert attention from the fact that the main culprit for the conflict is the Syrian government.
« The advances against Daesh today should not lead us to forget that the regime is primarily responsible for the conflict and the 270,000 people killed since five years, » foreign ministry spokesman Romain Nadal said. In addition to the quarter of a million fatalities, the war has displaced 10 million people, drawn foreign powers into the conflict and created the world’s biggest refugee crisis.
Syria army keeps pressure on IS after Palmyra capture Regime troops were locked in heavy fighting with the Islamic State group in central Syria after dealing the jihadists a major blow by seizing the ancient city of Palmyra. Backed by « intense » air strikes by both Syrian and Russian warplanes, pro-government fighters advanced southwest towards the jihadist-held town of Al-Qaryatain on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
They captured a series of strategic hilltops overlooking the town, where around 500 civilians are still living, according to the Britain-based monitor.
The advance comes as the UN refugee agency prepares to host a conference Wednesday in Geneva to secure concrete pledges from nations to resettle those displaced by the conflict.
IS had seized Al-Qaryatain in August 2015, kidnapping at least 230 people, including dozens of Christians, and razing the Mar Elian monastery.
The town lies on a key road linking Palmyra with the Qalamun region of Damascus province to the west. Sunday’s capture of Palmyra, known as the « Pearl of the Desert » for its colonnaded alleyways and stunning temples, was seen as the biggest blow so far in the war against IS in Syria.
– Regime hails Palmyra’s fall – Syria’s government has described the victory as proof of its credentials in the anti-IS fight.President Bashar al-Assad said the military advances would also help efforts to find a political solution by deterring countries that are « hindering the settlement ».
In an interview with Russia’s RIA Novosti state news agency, he named Saudi Arabia, Turkey, France and Britain as countries that are « counting on our defeat on the battlefield in order to impose their conditions at the negotiations ».
« So these military actions and successes will lead to the acceleration of the political settlement, and not prevent it, » Assad said. Syria’s armed forces have pledged to strengthen their hold on Palmyra and press on towards IS’s northern bastion in Raqa as well as the oil-rich province of Deir Ezzor to the east.France said the recapture of Palmyra was « positive news ».
But the victory « should not exonerate the Damascus regime » of its responsibilities in the conflict, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said during a visit to Algeria. The jihadists swept into Palmyra, a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site, in May 2015 and began a campaign to destroy tombs and shrines it considered idolatrous.The extremist group demolished the 2,000-year-old temple of Bel and also blew up the Arch of Triumph.
– Deminers, sniffer dogs – Syria’s head of antiquities, Maamoun Abdulkarim, told AFP that 80 percent of the site was still « in good shape » and the ancient ruins could be restored in five years with UNESCO’s help.But UN expert Annie Sartre-Fauriat, who belongs to a panel on Syrian heritage set up by UNESCO in 2013, said she was « very doubtful » that would be possible.
As they retreated from Palmyra at the weekend, IS fighters planted roadside mines near some of the most celebrated ruins of the city. Army sappers have already defused dozens of the makeshift bombs and have conducted controlled detonations of others, a military source told AFP.
On Tuesday, Moscow dispatched a group of Russian deminers, sniffer dogs, and advanced radar equipment to help secure the city, Russia’s state media channel Pervy Kanal reported.
Moscow began its air war in support of Assad’s troops on September 30, 2015, carrying out strikes on « terrorist » targets across the country. The air campaign has been criticised by rebel groups, their Western backers, and rights groups as indiscriminate.In the last quarter of 2015, Russian air strikes in Syria likely killed more than 1,000 civilians, the Airwars monitoring group said.
The London-based group gathered media reports, accounts from rebel groups and non-governmental organisations to compile the estimated toll.
It said its provisional view was that between September 30 and December 31, as many as 1,448 civilians were « likely » killed in Russian strikes.Earlier this month, Russia announced a drawdown but it said it would keep up its support for the regime’s battle against IS and other jihadist groups.
Analysts say only 10-25 percent of Russian forces have left Syria since President Vladimir Putin announced the withdrawal.
Moscow’s call not to discuss Assad’s fate may halt Syria peace talks-agency Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s future should be the main topic of Syrian peace talks in Geneva, and Moscow’s call not to discuss this aims at undermining the negotiations, Interfax news agency quoted a Syrian opposition figure as saying on Tuesday.
Moscow’s position that Assad’s future should not be discussed at the moment has found understanding in Washington, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov has said.
« It is obvious that this statement aims to stop the process of negotiations and to deprive the High Negotiating Council of any hope to continue the talks, » Riad Nassan Agha, a member of the opposition High Negotiations Committee, told Interfax, commenting on Ryabkov’s words. « What else are we going to discuss if we are not going to discuss Assad’s fate? » he said.
UN seeks to resettle one-tenth of 4.8 mln Syrian refugees by 2018 The United Nations said on Tuesday it aimed to re-settle more than 450,000 Syrian refugees, about one-tenth of those now in neighbouring countries, by the end of 2018, but conceded it needed to overcome widespread fear and political manipulation. The U.N. refugee agency is urging countries worldwide to take in Syrians for resettlement as well as for humanitarian reasons of family reunification, medical treatment or scholarships to complete their studies.
More than 4.8 million Syrian refugees have fled to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt to escape a war that has killed more than 250,000 people since 2011 and left 13.5 million inside Syria in need of aid. An additional half a million people are estimated to have fled to Europe, especially Germany, since early 2015.Syria’s pre-war population was around 22 million.
A ministerial-level conference on Wednesday will « focus on the need for generating a substantial increase in resettlement and other answers for their plight », spokesman Adrian Edwards of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told a briefing.
« We estimate that 10 percent of Syria’s 4.8 million refugees fall into the highly vulnerable category. That means that well over 450,000 places will be needed before the end of 2018. » The UNHCR is hoping for a « separate commitment » from the European Union than relocation offered under a controversial agreement reached with Turkey this month, Edwards told Reuters.Under that deal, for every Syrian returned from the EU to Turkey, another would be resettled from Turkey within the bloc.
SHARING THE BURDEN Since 2013, mainly Western countries have offered some 179,150 resettlement places to Syrian refugees, UNHCR figures show. These include 25,000 resettled in Canada in recent months, while nearly 42,000 have benefitted from Germany’s large programmes of humanitarian admissions and private sponsorship.
UNHCR says it asked the United States last month to consider 32,369 Syrian refugees for resettlement. »Small countries like Portugal are taking in Syrian students to finish their university studies. We think many more countries can be doing that kind of thing, » Edwards said. Some additional pledges are expected to be announced at the Geneva talks, which U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and U.N.refugee agency boss Filippo Grandi will addres.
Asked about the impact of anti-migrant rhetoric used during election campaigns in the United States and elsewhere on efforts to resettle Syrian refugees, Edwards said: « …We know very well we’re dealing with a complex situation, increasing fear in many countries, increasing politicisation of refugee, displacement and asylum issues. This is a difficult thing, » he said
Putin: Russian arms exports hit $14.5 bln in 2015, more than planned -agencies Russia’s arms exports totalled $14.5 billion last year, more than originally planned, Russian news agencies quoted President Vladimir Putin as saying on Tuesday.
The total portfolio of foreign orders for Russian arms has exceeded $56 billion, Putin told a meeting of the presidential commission on military-technical cooperation, which is a term used in Russia for arms exports.He also said that the Defence Ministry had started preparations for demining of Syria’s city of Palmyra liberated from Islamic State militants.
Blasts and heavy gunfire heard in Tripoli Several loud explosions followed by heavy gunfire were heard over Tripoli in the early hours of Wednesday, a Reuters reporter said.
The cause of the firing was not immediately clear, but the Libyan capital has been on edge amid speculation that a U.N.-backed unity government was about to travel to Tripoli from Tunisia. The self-declared government in Tripoli and some armed factions in the city oppose the unity government and have warned it not to move.
The Tripoli government was brought to power after armed brigades backing it won a battle for the capital in 2014. A rival government moved to eastern Libya. The unity government is the result of a December deal to heal Libya’s divisions and end its armed conflict, but the new government has faced opposition from hardliners in both the east and west of the country.
On Sunday and Monday Tripoli’s airspace was closed for periods of several hours, a move that the unity government’s Presidential Council said was designed to prevent it travelling into Libya.Tripoli Prime Minister Khalifa Ghwell said in a statement late on Tuesday that the airspace had been closed to « protect the souls of the people following the Presidential Council’s inappropriate behaviour ».
Italy rescues nearly 1,400 migrants in southern Mediterranean Italian coast guard and navy vessels rescued nearly 1,400 migrants from boats and rubber dinghies in the southern Mediterranean on Tuesday, officials said, indicating numbers were rising as the weather warms up.
About 570 were rescued by the navy and about 780 by the coast guard, according to Tweets from both branches of the military. Also on Tuesday, some 730 migrants who had been rescued in various operations in previous days and transferred to a larger ship arrived in the Sicilian port of Pozzallo.Most of the migrants were from African countries and were believed to have left from Libya, which is widely lawless.
Officials fear the numbers of migrants trying to reach southern Italy by sea, relatively contained so far this year, will increase as sailing conditions improve in warmer weather.More than 1.2 million Arab, African and Asian migrants have streamed into the European Union since the start of last year, most of them via Greece rather than Italy after a much shorter sea journey from nearby Turkey.
War in Yemen kills many children, leaves others malnourished – UNICEF Hundreds of thousands of children in Yemen face life-threatening malnutrition, millions lack access to health care or clean water, and some have been drafted as soldiers in the year-old war, the United Nations Children’s Fund said on Tuesday.
A UNICEF report said all sides had « exponentially increased » the use of child soldiers in the conflict between Houthi forces, allied to Iran, and a Saudi-led coalition supporting Yemen’s President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. It knew of 848 documented cases, including boys as young as 10. »On average, at least six children have been killed or injured every day, » said the report « Childhood on the Brink ».
UNICEF has confirmed 934 children directly killed and 1,356 injured, but says they are « only a tip of the iceberg ». »Sixty-one percent of those (children) killed and injured were in (Saudi-led) air strikes across the country, » Julien Harneis, UNICEF’s Representative in Yemen, told a briefing by telephone from the capital Sanaa.
All sides have violated international law by using indiscriminate and disproportionate force that means « children die unnecessarily and wrongly », he said, citing multiple coalition strikes on outdoor markets. Basic services and infrastructure are « on the verge of total collapse, » the report said, noting attacks on schools, hospitals and the water and sanitation system.
The U.N. said last week the warring parties had agreed to a cessation of hostilities from April 10 and peace talks from April 18, after a year of war that has killed more than 6,200 people. »We’re hoping that the truce kicks in on the 10th and will allow parents and families to come and access health services and other services, » Harneis told Reuters earlier.
« In Sa’ada in the last week, there has definitely been a reduction of fighting in the border area. In Sanaa, we have seen fewer (Saudi-led) air strikes, » he said. Nearly half of Yemen’s 22 provinces are on the verge of famine, the U.N.’s World Food Programme said last week.
Families of U.S. personnel ordered to leave parts of Turkey amid security concernsThe Obama administration ordered the families of U.S. military and diplomatic personnel to leave parts of southern Turkey on Tuesday and warned U.S.citizens against travel to the region amid mounting security concerns.
The Pentagon said 670 dependents of U.S. military personnel would be affected by the order to depart areas of southern Turkey, including Incirlik air base, which is used heavily in the fight against Islamic State militants.
The U.S. State Department said a small number of diplomatic families would be affected but did not give numbers. The Pentagon said 100 military dependents in Ankara and Istanbul were not affected by the departure orders because of security measures in place there.
State Department spokesman John Kirby said the move had been under consideration for several weeks, and was not the result of any specific threat and had nothing to do with the visit to Washington this week by top Turkish officials.
Secretary of State John Kerry met Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Monday, and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is due to attend a Nuclear Security Summit with other world leaders later in the week. Kirby said Kerry had discussed the security announcement with Cavusoglu at their meeting on Monday.
« The decision to do this wasn’t taken lightly. It was done after careful thought and consideration, and inter-agency coordination, » Kirby told a daily briefing at the State Department. « The timing of it was completely considered independently of the Nuclear Security Summit and the visit here to Washington by Turkish officials, » he added. The U.S. military’s European Command said it had ordered the departure of families of personnel stationed in Adana, home of Incirlik. It said families of U.S. military personnel also had been told to leave Izmir and Mugla provinces in southeastern Turkey.
« We understand this is disruptive to our military families, but we must keep them safe and ensure the combat effectiveness of our forces to support our strong ally Turkey in the fight against terrorism, » General Philip M. Breedlove, commander of the U.S. European Command, said in the statement.
The departures do not indicate a decision to permanently end U.S. families’ presence at military facilities in southern Turkey, the statement said. The U.S. State Department said it had ordered the departure of family members of government workers at the U.S. Consulate in Adana. Dependents of U.S. government employees in Izmir and Mugla provinces were also asked to leave.
The State Department issued a statement cautioning U.S.citizens more broadly against traveling to southeastern Turkey.It also warned of « increased threats from terrorist groups throughout Turkey. »
Obama to hold informal talks with Turkey’s Erdogan as ties show strain President Barack Obama will hold informal talks with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in Washington this week, the White House said on Tuesday, dismissing suggestions that the lack of a formal meeting represented a snub to Ankara.
Erdogan will be among more than 50 world leaders attending a Nuclear Security Summit in Washington on Thursday and Friday, during which time he is due to have a formal meeting with Vice President Joe Biden. There had been intense speculation in the Turkish media over whether Obama would meet Erdogan, with some suggesting a failure to do so would mark a deliberate U.S. snub amid differences over Syria and Washington’s concerns over the direction of Turkey’s domestic policies.
At a news conference in Istanbul before leaving for the United States earlier on Tuesday, Erdogan said a meeting with Obama at the nuclear summit was planned, although he said he did not know how long it would last. Biden’s office later said the vice president would host Erdogan for a meeting on Thursday in Washington.
« I would expect that over the course of the visit, the president will have an opportunity at some point to have at least an informal discussion with President Erdogan, » White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters traveling with Obama. Earnest said the lack of a formal meeting should not be interpreted as a snub, noting Biden’s planned meeting with Erdogan as well as the large number of foreign leaders due to attend the summit.
« There obviously is a lot of important work to do with our allies in Turkey … It also includes continuing to intensify our coordination on key aspects of our counter-ISIL strategy, including ramped-up efforts to secure the Turkey-Syria border, » he said. ISIL is another name for the Sunni militant group Islamic State. Turkey, a NATO member, is part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
SHARP DIVIDE Though allies, Washington and Ankara are sharply divided over a Kurdish militia in northern Syria. The militia has enjoyed U.S. military support but Turkey, which has a large ethnic Kurdish minority in its conflict-riven southeast region, sees it as a threat to its own national security.
One U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged there were strains between the United States and Turkey on a range of issues, but added that Washington regards Ankara’s assistance as essential to fighting Islamic State. The United States has also grown increasingly critical of Turkey’s record on freedom of expression. Biden said during a visit in January that Turkey was setting a poor example in intimidating media and accusing academics of treason.
Erdogan, meanwhile, said on Tuesday he wanted U.S.authorities to take steps against a network of schools run by a movement affiliated with Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, a U.S.-based Turkish cleric whom he has accused of running a « parallel » state and of plotting to overthrow him.
Gulen, whose network of followers runs schools worldwide, was once an ally of Erdogan. But the two publicly fell out after police and prosecutors Erdogan saw as sympathetic to Gulen launched a graft investigation that touched on the Turkish leader’s inner circle in 2013. Gulen, who faces terrorism charges in Turkey, denies that his followers sought to topple Erdogan.
Erdogan has said the arrest last week in Florida of a Turkish-Iranian gold trader who was at the centre of that graft investigation is not a concern for Turkey. « The real money launderers are there (in the United States).Have the authorities taken any steps towards them? » Erdogan said, in reference to Gulen’s network.
Islamic State threat raises stakes for US nuclear summit The specter of the Islamic State group obtaining a « dirty bomb » will loom over a top-level nuclear security summit hosted by President Barack Obama in Washington on Thursday and Friday.Obama welcomes several leaders from countries as diverse as China and Nigeria, as well as representatives from nearly 50 other nations, for the summit aimed at elevating the problem of shaky safeguards from the desks of technocrats to the highest corridors of power.
The meeting comes just days after 32 people were killed and 340 were injured in bombings at Brussels airport and the Belgian capital’s metro.
The attacks featured conventional explosives, but two of the suicide bombers — Ibrahim and Khalid El Bakraoui — have been linked to possible efforts by the Islamic State (IS) group to secure fissile material.
Late last year, Belgian police investigating the November 13 Paris terror attacks found 10 hours of video surveillance detailing the comings and goings of a senior Belgian nuclear official. Belgian media have since reported that the brothers were linked to the surveillance.The incident has only heightened existing concerns about IS efforts to get nuclear material.
« Having a portion of the discussion that is focused on counter-ISIL is a decision that was made in January, » said Laura Holgate, the National Security Council’s senior director for weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and threat reduction. « But it turns out that it is obviously very timely, unfortunately. « The video footage is of concern, » she said, adding, with regard to the Belgian case, that the United States does not « have any information that a broader plot exists. »
But groups like the Islamic State have long shown their interest in obtaining nuclear material »We’ve seen over the years that different terrorist organizations have ambitions related to acquiring nuclear materials, » said Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes.
« We’ve seen that in their public statements, we’ve seen that in some cases in their monitoring of nuclear facilities, » he added. »That’s why the summit process is so important, because different countries have different levels of security at their facilities or in terms of how they are handling nuclear materials. »
Iran missile tests were ‘in defiance of’ U.N. resolution -U.S., allies By launching nuclear-capable missiles Iran has defied a United Nations Security Council resolution that endorsed last year’s historic nuclear deal, the United States and its European allies said in a joint letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.
Iran’s recent ballistic tests involved missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons and were « inconsistent with » and « in defiance of » council resolution 2231, adopted last July, said the joint U.S., British, French, German letter to Spain’s U.N.Ambassador Roman Oyarzun Marchesi and U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon.The letter said the missiles used in the recent launches were « inherently capable of delivering nuclear weapons. » It also asked that the Security Council discuss « appropriate responses » to Tehran’s failure to comply with its obligations and urged Ban to report back on Iranian missile work inconsistent with 2231.
Spain has been assigned the task of coordinating council discussions on resolution 2231.
Council diplomats have said the case for new U.N. sanctions was weak, hinging on interpretation of ambiguous language in a resolution adopted as part of a July nuclear deal to drastically restrict Iran’s nuclear work.
Western officials say that although the launches went against 2231, they were not a violation of the core nuclear agreement between Iran, Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States. Russia, a permanent veto-wielding council member, has made clear it does not support new U.N. sanctions on Iran. Both Russia and China had lobbied against continuing restrictions on Iran’s missile program during last year’s negotiations on the nuclear deal.
The four powers’ carefully worded letter stopped short of calling the Iranian launches a « violation » of the resolution, which « calls upon » Iran to refrain for up to eight years from activity, including launches, related to ballistic missiles designed with the capability of delivering nuclear weapons.
Diplomats say key powers agree that request is not legally binding and cannot be enforced under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which deals with sanctions and authorization of military force. But Western nations, which view the language as a ban, say there is a political obligation on Iran to comply.
International sanctions on Tehran were lifted in January under the nuclear deal.The commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ missile battery said the missiles tested were designed to be able to hit U.S. ally Israel. The United States condemned the remarks and Russia said countries should not threaten each other.
The letter said the four Western powers « note with concern that Iranian military leaders have reportedly claimed these missiles are designed to be a direct threat to Israel. » Several diplomats said the most Iran could expect would be a public rebuke by the Security Council. Under the nuclear deal, the reimposition of U.N. sanctions would only be triggered by violations of the agreed restrictions on Iran’s atomic work.
But a council rebuke could provide a legal springboard for European countries to consider new sanctions against Iran, Western diplomats said. Last week the U.S. Treasury Department blacklisted two Iranian companies for supporting Iran’s ballistic missile program, and also sanctioned two British businessmen it said were helping an airline used by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.
France has also suggested there could be unilateral European Union sanctions against Iran over the launches.
Iran’s Rouhani calls off Austria visit at last minute, citing security Iranian President Hassan Rouhani postponed a two-day visit to Austria indefinitely for security reasons on Tuesday, the evening he was supposed to arrive in Vienna, his Austrian counterpart’s office said.
It was not clear what the security reasons were, a spokeswoman for Austrian President Heinz Fischer’s office said. A planned Rouhani visit to Baghdad immediately before the Austrian trip had, however, also been postponed for security reasons, Fischer’s office and an Iranian official said.
« We were working (on preparations) until 5, 5:30 p.m., » the spokeswoman said, underlining the short notice as Rouhani had originally been expected to arrive around 7:30 p.m. local time.
The visit was due to be Rouhani’s second to the European Union since international sanctions against his country were lifted in January under a landmark nuclear deal with major powers that was negotiated in Vienna last year.
The Austrian Chamber of Commerce had said 1 billion to 2 billion euros ($1.1 billion to 2.3 billion) of business deals would be signed, a sum dwarfed by Rouhani’s visits in January to Italy and France but still significant for much smaller Austria. Rouhani, the chief architect of the nuclear deal and keen to open Iran’s economy to the world, had been due to meet Fischer and other officials on Wednesday and Thursday.
Fischer issued a statement expressing regret and understanding at Rouhani’s move, without explaining it. « Of course, it goes without saying that each state must make its own decisions about security and the head of state’s security, » Fischer said. « The quality of relations with Iran will not be affected by this postponement. » ($1 = 0.8872 euros)
Iraqi PM asks parliament to clarify stance on corruption-fighting cabinet Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi asked parliament on Tuesday to give him clear guidance on whether he should appoint party politicians or independent technocrats to a new cabinet aimed at fighting corruption.Abadi was responding in a speech broadcast on state television to a deadline set by parliament on Monday to come up with a new lineup by Thursday.
« The council of representatives should clarify its position.Does it want ministers from the political blocs or technocrat ministers from outside the blocs and quotas? » he said. Powerful Shi’ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr responded swiftly, threatening Abadi with a no-confidence vote if he did not present the promised cabinet lineup by Thursday.
Sadr on Sunday launched a personal sit-in inside Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone that houses embassies and government offices, escalating pressure on Abadi to deliver on his plan.Sadr’s supporters are holding a sit-in just outside the district’s gates.
In his speech, Abadi indirectly called on Sadr to end the protests, which he said were burdening the security forces as they fight Islamic State, the ultra-hardline Sunni group that controls considerable territory in northern and western Iraq. « Reforms should not be allowed to impact the military and security situation, » he said.Abadi said more than six weeks ago that he would replace ministers with technocrats unaffiliated with political parties.
But other politicians, including some within his own Shi’ite Dawa party, have pushed back against such a reshuffle, fearing it could weaken the political patronage networks that have sustained their wealth and influence for more than a decade.
« The parliament has given you until Thursday and you have to abide by this date, otherwise … we may get to the point where we withdraw confidence, » Sadr said through his aide, Sheikh Ali Smeisim, addressing Abadi in a speech on local television.
Yet Ahrar, Sadr’s bloc, accounts for only 34 of parliament’s 328 members and may not be able to vote down Abadi if other political parties decide otherwise.
Iraq, a major OPEC producer that relies on oil exports for most of its revenue, has been plagued by corruption and mismanagement for years, ranking 161 out of 168 on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index in 2015. Graft continues to eat away at Baghdad’s resources as it struggles with high spending due to the costs of the war against Islamic State.
Morocco rejects UN view of Western Sahara « misunderstanding » Morocco said on Tuesday that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s description of its annexation of Western Sahara as an « occupation » was not a misunderstanding but a « premeditated act to alter the nature of the dispute ».
The foreign ministry statement came a day after a U.N.spokesman said Ban regretted the « misunderstanding » over his use of the word, which led to Morocco expelling dozens of United Nations staff from its mission in the disputed territory.
The standoff over Ban’s comment is Morocco’s worst disagreement with the United Nations since 1991, when the U.N.brokered a ceasefire to end a war over Western Sahara and established a peacekeeping mission there known as MINURSO.
« In the eyes of Morocco, these are premeditated acts to alter the nature of the dispute, » Morocco’s foreign ministry said in a statement. « At this level of responsibility, words have meaning, political and legal consequences, and personal opinions have no place. » Morocco took over most of the territory in 1975 from colonial Spain. That started a guerrilla war with the Sahrawi people’s Polisario Front, which says the desert territory in the northwest of Africa belongs to it. The United Nations brokered a ceasefire in 1991 and sent in its MINURSO mission to help organize a referendum on the future of the territory. But the sides have been deadlocked since then.
Morocco, which accused Ban of losing his neutrality in the dispute, said it also had differences with the U.N. chief over his reference to the referendum during his visit to the Western Saharan refugee camps in Tindouf in southern Algeria.
Morocco also criticised Ban for visiting Bir Lahlou town, which it considers part of the buffer zone with the Polisario front. It said he had also signalled acknowledgement of the flag of the Polisario’s self-declared Arab Sahrawi Republic (SADR).
SADR has been recognized by some countries, mainly from the African Union, but no Western powers recognize it.Since the dispute erupted earlier this month, U.N. officials have repeatedly urged the U.N. Security Council to publicly voice its support for Ban and MINURSO, which the 15-nation body did late last Thursday in New York.
But the council has not explicitly ordered Morocco to reverse its decisions or address Ban’s use of the word « occupation. » Some U.N. diplomats blamed the council’s silence on Morocco’s ally France, along with Spain, Egypt and Senegal.
Algeria, Polisario’s biggest ally and Morocco’s regional rival, said on Tuesday the dispute was the main area of disagreement with France in foreign policy. « We keep good hope that France will help the region to resolve this Sahrawi question according to international law, » Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra said in a joint conference with French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault in Algiers.
Morocco says that it will keep supporting the military part of MINURSO and that contacts with the ceasefire-monitoring units have not been disrupted.Polisario wants to hold the vote promised in the ceasefire deal on the region’s fate, while Morocco says it will not offer more than autonomy for the region, rich in phosphates and possibly offshore oil and gas.
Netanyahu to meet Putin in Moscow on April 21 -Israeli source Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on April 21 to discuss security issues in the Middle East, an Israeli political source said on Tuesday.
Israel and Russia have maintained a hotline to help avoid their aircraft accidentally clashing over Syrian territory. This has allowed Israel to continue to carry out covert strikes to foil suspected Hezbollah or Iranian operations against it on Syrian turf without fear of accidentally clashing with Moscow.
Israeli officials have privately said that Russian forces sent in last year to help Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turn the tide in a five-year-old civil war also served to restrain his anti-Israel allies – Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia.Despite its declared withdrawal of most military forces two weeks ago, Russian forces continue to operate in Syria and jets and helicopters have carried out dozens of strikes daily over Palmyra, helping the Syrian army recapture the historic city from Islamic State militants.
Putin told visiting Israeli President Reuven Rivlin earlier in March that he had agreed to meet Netanyahu to discuss the security situation in the Middle East. An Israeli official who declined to be named said that during Rivlin’s meeting with Putin, he « asked that Russia work to restore UNDOF as part of any long-term arrangement in Syria », referring to a United Nations peacekeeping force.
Personnel from UNDOF, which monitors the Israeli-Syrian frontier on the Golan Heights, have come under fire and even been kidnapped by militants fighting Assad’s forces, prompting peacekeeping contingents from some participating nations to withdraw from the force.
Family of slain Italian student demands strong response to EgyptThe parents of Italian graduate student Giulio Regeni, who was tortured and killed in Cairo, demanded on Tuesday a tough response from Rome if Egypt fails to uncover the truth behind their son’s murder.
Giulio’s mother, Paola Regeni, said she might release a photograph of her son’s body to show the world what had happened to him in Egypt if his murderers were not revealed. « I only recognised him because of the tip of his nose. As for everything else, it was no longer him, » she said in the first news conference the family has given since Giulio’s battered body was found in a roadside ditch on Feb. 3. The 28-year-old student went missing on Jan. 25 and human rights groups have said the signs of torture indicated he had been killed by Egyptian security forces, an allegation Cairo has vigorously denied.
Egyptian officials are due in Italy on April 5 to discuss the investigation. « If April 5 proves to be a wash-out, we expect a strong response from our government, a really strong one, » Paola Regeni said. The head of parliament’s human rights committee, Luigi Manconi, who also took part in the news conference, said the government should recall Italy’s ambassador to Cairo and declare Egypt unsafe for visitors if the investigation went nowhere.
« Relations should not be broken, but they should face a particularly significant revision, » said Manconi, a member of Prime Minister Matteo Renzi’s Democratic Party. Giulio Regeni’s father, Claudio, said he supported this call.
Last week, Egyptian police said they had discovered Regeni’s bag and passport following a shootout with a criminal gang. Italian officials dismissed the story and Regeni’s family said it was clear Giulio had not been killed for criminal gain. The family lawyer, Alessandra Ballerini, said the Italian autopsy showed that Regeni was alive until Feb. 1 or 2 and that there had never been a ransom bid or money stolen from his bank account in the days after his disappearance.
« Whatever the truth, it is clearly very uncomfortable for the (Egyptian) regime, » she said.
FBI warned Dutch about El Bakraoui brothers week before attacks The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) told Dutch police that two brothers were being sought by Belgian authorities a week before the pair blew themselves up in suicide attacks in Brussels, the Dutch interior minister said on Tuesday.
Ard van der Steur was responding by letter to questions from Dutch legislators about Belgian brothers Ibrahim (‘Brahim’) and Khalid El Bakraoui, who prosecutors say took part in the March 22 attacks which killed 35 people, excluding the attackers.
A series of missteps and blunders by Belgium’s security and intelligence agencies have come to light since the attacks, as well weaknesses in communication between intelligence agencies across Europe.Ibrahim was deported to the Netherlands from Turkey in July 2015, a month after being picked up by Turkish police near the Syrian border. The Netherlands said that when he arrived, his name did not appear on any blacklists so he was not detained. Why he was not deported to Belgium is not clear. « On March 16, the FBI informed Dutch police over the fact that both brothers were sought by Belgian authorities, » the minister wrote.
Van der Steur said the FBI told the Dutch authorities that Ibrahim was sought by the Belgian authorities for « his criminal background », while Khaled was wanted for « terrorism, extremism and recruitment ». In an earlier version of the letter, the minister wrote that the FBI had informed the Dutch authorities of the two brothers, without mentioning that they were wanted by Belgium.This information was then shared at a meeting between Belgian and Dutch authorities on March 17, the minister wrote.
But in a statement released in response to his letter, the Belgian federal police denied the brothers were mentioned in a discussion on March 17, when a Dutch police representative visited them. They discussed a shootout in Brussels on March 15 in which an Islamist gunman was shot dead, but there was no mention of the FBI report, the Belgian police said in the statement.The Dutch parliament will debate later on Tuesday which security measures the Netherlands should take in response to the attacks, which killed three Dutch citizens.
Islamic State claimed the bombings, carried out by the same network that was behind the Paris attacks in November in which 131 people died.Khalid went missing at the end of October and was on Interpol’s wanted list on terrorist charges in December after police discovered a flat used by the Paris attackers that he had been rented using a false name.
FBI examining laptops linked to Belgian militants – source The Federal Bureau of Investigation is examining laptop computers linked to suspects in last week’s deadly Brussels bombings as investigators work to unravel the militant network behind the attacks.
The laptops arrived in the U.S. on Friday and now are being examined by FBI experts, a U.S. government source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday that Belgian authorities had provided copies of laptop hard drives to the FBI. It is not yet clear whether FBI technicians have recovered any significant data from the equipment the Belgians turned over, the source told Reuters.
U.S. officials have pledged support for Belgian efforts to crack down on militants behind the March 22 suicide bomb attacks at a Brussels Metro station and the city’s Zaventem Airport and other recent attacks.The death toll from the attack on the airport, and the subsequent bombing of a rush-hour metro train, rose to 35 on Monday, excluding the three men who blew themselves up.
On Saturday, President Barack Obama said the a team of FBI agents was helping investigators on the ground in Belgium.U.S. officials have said that Belgium’s security and intelligence agencies are overstretched and also hampered by internal political, financial and cultural problems, including a linguistic divide between French and Flemish speaking investigators.
Tens of thousands sign online petition to scrap UK foreign aid target An online petition calling on the British government to scrap its target of spending 0.7 percent of national income on development aid has been signed by more than 140,000 people, meaning there may be a parliamentary debate on the issue.
The petition, which says UK aid money should be allocated on a case-by-case basis, was launched by the right-wing Mail on Sunday newspaper on Friday, after what it said was an investigation into how Britain spent its overseas aid.
Any online petition that gathers more than 100,000 signatures has to be considered for a debate in parliament.The newspaper said its investigation had shown that UK aid money had funded Palestinian « terrorists », English lessons for North Korean officials, a radio programme with tips for Somalis on how to migrate to Europe, and had helped to build a palace.
UK overseas development aid, which was 11.7 billion pounds ($16.8 billion) in 2014, should be spent in Britain instead of being « squandered » on such projects, the Mail on Sunday said.
The Department for International Development (DFID), the ministry that manages overseas aid, rejected the accusations, saying they misrepresented or inaccurately portrayed projects it supported, including some that were no longer funded.
« UK aid is spent where it is most needed and is subject to rigorous internal and external checks and scrutiny at all stages, » DFID said in a statement on its website.
« The government has realigned the UK’s aid strategy, cutting wasteful programmes and making sure spending is firmly in the UK’s national interest. » « Recent crises, from our response to the Ebola epidemic to our use of our aid budget to support refugees in Syria and the surrounding region, have proved why aid is so important for us as well as for the countries we assist. » The United Nations agreed in 1970 to set the aid target of 0.7 percent of GNI (gross national income) and Britain became the first leading industrial nation to reach it in 2013, when it spent 11.4 billion pounds on ODA (Overseas Development Assistance).
Brazil’s biggest party quits ruling coalition, Rousseff isolated Brazil’s largest party announced on Tuesday it was leaving President Dilma Rousseff’s governing coalition and pulling its members from her government, a departure that sharply raises the odds she could be impeached in a matter of months.
The Brazilian Democratic Movement Party (PMDB) took just a few minutes to decide unanimously in a packed leadership meeting that its six ministers in Rousseff’s Cabinet and all other party members with government appointments must resign immediately.
Under Brazil’s presidential system, Rousseff will remain in office but the break cripples her fight against impeachment proceedings in Congress, which could put Vice President Michel Temer, leader of the PMDB, in the presidential seat.
Rousseff has denied any wrongdoing and called the impeachment efforts a coup to oust her ruling Workers’ Party (PT).The opposition is pressing to impeach her for allegedly breaking budget laws to boost spending in the run-up to her 2014 re-election.
Their efforts gained steam as more than 1 million Brazilians took to the streets this month to protest at the worst recession in decades and a vast corruption scandal at state oil company Petrobras that has reached the president’s inner circle.
« We’re going to try to change the country. The economic and social crisis is very serious, » Senator Romero Juca, the PMDB’s first vice-president, said after the rowdy meeting in which party members chanted « Temer President » and « Out with the PT. » The loss of Rousseff’s main coalition partner may prompt smaller parties to abandon the government, leaving Brazil’s first female president increasingly isolated as the impeachment process nears a vote in the lower house, expected in mid-April.
It would be Brazil’s first impeachment since former President Fernando Collor de Mello was put on trial in the Senate in 1992 for corruption.Rousseff’s struggles are just a part of a broad crisis in Brazil, which was hailed until recently as one of the world’s most promising developing countries alongside China, India and Russia.
Brazil’s economy shrank 3.8 percent last year and is on track for the worst two-year recession in more than a century, according to economists. The government is also grappling with an epidemic of the mosquito-borne Zika virus as it scrambles to prepare for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.
TRIP CANCELED Rousseff will seek new coalition allies and form a new government by the end of the week, her chief of staff Jaques Wagner told reporters.
Rousseff canceled a trip to a nuclear security summit in Washington because of the deepening political crisis, two government officials told Reuters on Tuesday.She requires the backing of 171 members of congress – or one-third of the lower house – to block impeachment. The loss of the PMDB’s 68 votes, means the PT – which has 58 members – must rely heavily on its smaller coalition partners.
Including allies such as the Progressive Party (PP), the Republican Party (PR) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the government believes it can muster 180 votes. However, the PP will meet on Wednesday to decide whether to withdraw from the governing coalition.
If the lower house backs impeachment, the Senate must then decide by a simple majority whether to put Rousseff on trial, at which point she would be temporarily suspended and Temer would become acting president. The Senate could vote on that as soon as early May.
Investors weary of Rousseff’s interventionist economic policies and a deepening recession have cheered the prospect of her ouster, boosting Brazil’s currency 8 percent this year as the benchmark Bovespa stock index rose 19 percent.
However, many analysts warn that impeachment could usher in a period of political turmoil, with several senior PMDB figures also targeted by the graft investigation.Temer aides said he was ready to lead Brazil with policies restoring business confidence. Temer’s plan is expected to include drastic cuts in public spending to close a fiscal deficit that cost Brazil its investment-grade credit rating.
Senator Aecio Neves, leader of the main opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party, said he and the leaders of five other opposition parties were ready to back a transitional government led by Temer.
« Rousseff’s government is finished. The departure of the PMDB is the last nail in the coffin of a dying government, » Neves told reporters.Neves, who narrowly lost to Rousseff in the 2014 election, said within 10 days of the lower house decision the Senate would vote to suspend the president’s mandate and put her on trial.
However, the speaker of the Senate, PMDB Senator Renan Calheiros, said that the Supreme Court needed to set the calendar for the process in the Senate. A senior PMDB senator told Reuters this month that the government lacks the votes to win a trial there.Marina Silva, a environmentalist and political leader who came third in presidential elections in 2010 and 2014, slammed the PMDB for opportunism in severing its alliance with Rousseff’s party.
« In just three minutes … the PMDB decided to jump from the government’s coalition of which, for the past 13 years, it was the biggest beneficiary – without any explanation to the Brazilian people, and with no apology for being equally responsible for all the things that led to the current crisis, » she said.
U.S. sanctions an important tool, not to be used ‘frivolously’ -Treasury’s Lew Economic sanctions are a powerful policy weapon but should not be wielded « frivolously, » U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in an interview to be aired on Tuesday.
Sanctions – blacklisting individuals and organizations, effectively barring them from the global financial system – have become a favored tool for the United States. It has used them against challenges as varied as drug trafficking, cyber attacks and jihadist financing.
But the impact has to be weighed as carefully as those of military force, Lew said in an interview with Public Television host Charlie Rose, according to a transcript of the interview released on Tuesday. »We can’t shy away from using sanctions because it will slow down growth, but we can’t do it frivolously either, » Lew said.
« It’s a serious step, and it’s something that has to be guarded in order to have it in the future when you need it. » U.S. sanctions have evolved over time from broad embargoes – such as the one imposed for decades on Cuba – to more targeted actions, he said, citing measures imposed on specific Russian industries in response to Russia’s intervention in Ukraine. « They’re targeted at the centers of power, where the decisions are being made, » Lew said.
The United States also should reward countries that change their behavior by removing sanctions, Lew said, pointing to measures against Iran that he credited with leading Tehran to agree to curb its nuclear program.
Iran reached a deal with the United States and other world powers last July, winning relief from the harshest sanctions in return for limiting its nuclear program, which the West feared was aimed at building a weapon.
« When you have an agreement that’s predicated on ‘Change your policy and get relief from the sanctions,’ there has to be relief from the sanctions, » Lew said. « Otherwise, no one will ever respond to a sanctions regime by changing their policy. » Reversing the Iran nuclear deal under a new administration – as Republican presidential candidate and U.S. Senator Ted Cruz has pledged to do – would be « destabilizing and dangerous, » Lew said.
A broad economic embargo remains in place against Cuba, although President Barack Obama has used executive authority to allow commerce not specifically banned by Congress, as Washington and Havana move closer toward normal relations.Those improved ties are « going to be a force for change » in Cuba, Lew said. « We weren’t getting it done the old way. »
Trump campaign manager charged with misdemeanor battery against reporter Donald Trump’s presidential campaign manager was arrested and charged with misdemeanor battery in Florida on Tuesday in an incident involving a reporter, the latest chapter in a raucous U.S. race marked by threats, insults and physical confrontations.
Police in Jupiter, Florida, charged Corey Lewandowski, 42, with intentionally grabbing and bruising the arm of Michelle Fields, then a reporter for the conservative news outlet Breitbart, when she tried to question Trump at a campaign event on March 8. Republican front-runner Trump repeatedly defended Lewandowski throughout a day of campaigning in Wisconsin. He also rescinded a previous pledge to support the Republican presidential nominee if it is not him. »No, not anymore, » he said when asked if he would honor his previous pledge.
At a CNN town hall on Tuesday night, Trump said he would remain loyal to his campaign manager and that Lewandowski would remain on the job even though it might be more convenient on behalf of his campaign to « terminate this man, ruin his life, ruin his family … ruin his whole everything and say: ‘You’re fired.' » Trump also questioned Fields’ original description of the incident in which she said she was almost yanked to the ground by Lewandowski. He wondered aloud if she had posed a threat to him because she approached him with an ink pen.
« She had a pen in her hand that could’ve been a knife, » Trump said.
Police released a video of the incident showing Fields walking alongside Trump and trying to question him. Lewandowski is seen grabbing her arm and pulling her backward. Previous videos of the incident had been obscured by people in the crowd.
At the time, Lewandowski called Fields « delusional » and said he never touched her.
Campaign rallies for Trump, the billionaire businessman who leads the race to become the Republican candidate in the Nov. 8 presidential election, are tumultuous at times and have been marked by occasional clashes between protesters and supporters or security personnel.His pugnacious campaign style, which includes personal insults directed at rivals and scathing criticism of protesters, has been criticized for encouraging physical altercations at his rallies.
Trump leads rivals Ted Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, and Ohio Governor John Kasich in opinion polls and in the number of delegates to the nominating convention, despite a concerted effort to stop him by a Republican establishment worried he will lead the party to defeat in November.
Cruz said Trump « of course » should ask for Lewandowski’s resignation.
« Look, it shouldn’t be complicated that members of the campaign staff shouldn’t be physically assaulting the press, » Cruz said on the CNN town hall.Kasich said he considered such behavior « totally and completely » inappropriate. »If it was me, if I was in this circumstance, I would take some sort of action, either suspension or firing, » Kasich told reporters in Wisconsin.
WALKER ENDORSES CRUZ Cruz picked up the endorsement on Tuesday of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker ahead of the state’s primary next week.Walker, who dropped out of the presidential race last year, called Cruz a principled constitutional conservative. »I’m all in, » Walker said in an interview on WTMJ radio in Milwaukee, adding he was not endorsing Cruz in an attempt to stop Trump.
« I just fundamentally believe if you look at the facts, if you look at the numbers, that Ted Cruz is in the best position by far to both win the nomination of the Republican Party and to then go on and defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall this year, » Walker said, referring to the Democratic front-runner.
Walker joins a number of other more establishment Republicans who have backed Cruz as an alternative to Trump, who has racked up a strong delegate lead but alienated many party leaders with his harsh views on illegal immigration, Muslims and women.On his plane, Trump said Fields had been pursuing him after a news conference and Lewandowski was trying to « get her off me. » He questioned whether Lewandowski had given Fields the bruise on her arm.
« How do you know those bruises weren’t there before? » he asked reporters in Wisconsin.Republican strategist Katie Packer, who runs an anti-Trump Super PAC, said the incident and the charges against Lewandowski reflected the candidate’s lack of respect toward women.
« He doesn’t have the kind of values and the kind of temperament that we should expect from someone who wants to be commander in chief, » she said.
Lewandowski was charged with simple battery, defined under Florida law as intentionally touching or striking a person against their will. For a first offense, it is a misdemeanor in the first degree, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison or a fine of $1,000.A court date was set for May 4, according to the police report. Jupiter police said Lewandowski turned himself in, and he was issued a notice requiring him to appear in court and then released. He was not booked into the jail.
Lewandowski’s lawyer, Scott Richardson of West Palm Beach, Florida, declined to comment on whether his client would step down as campaign manager. Lewandowski will also be represented by Kendall Coffey, a Miami lawyer, the campaign said.Fields resigned from Breitbart less than a week after the incident, citing what she said was the online news outlet’s refusal to stand behind her amid the allegations.
Campaign rhetoric on Muslims harms U.S. security efforts -Homeland Security chiefHarsh rhetoric about Muslims by Republican candidates in the U.S. presidential election campaign is undermining national security efforts, U.S.Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said on Tuesday. Asked about comments by Republicans Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, Johnson told MSNBC in an interview that singling out a specific community hampers government efforts to build the connections needed to thwart possible attacks.
« Inflammatory comments about patrolling and securing Muslim neighbors or barring Muslims from entering this country, having an immigration policy based on religion, is counterproductive to our homeland security and national security interests, » he said.
Johnson’s remarks come in the wake of attacks last week in Belgium claimed by Islamic State militants that have stoked security fears across Europe and the West.
U.S. officials have said there is no immediate known threat to the United States and have vowed to work with European authorities following those attacks, which targeted the Brussels airport and a subway station and killed at least 35 people.
Heightened concern over security has rippled through the nomination race for the Nov. 8 presidential election. Cruz, a U.S. senator from Texas, called for police to patrol American Muslim neighborhoods following the Brussels bombings. Billionaire businessman Trump has continued his call for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States.
The rhetoric has polarized the U.S. electorate and prompted criticism, particularly from Democrats, including President Barack Obama. Ohio Governor John Kasich, who is running a distant third in the Republican race for the nomination, on Tuesday blasted both of his rivals’ comments on security and said there should be more of a focus on intelligence-gathering and global cooperation, especially with help from Muslim communities.
« It’s so absurd, » Kasich said at a campaign event.Johnson said officials have worked hard to connect with American Muslim communities to garner their assistance with U.S.national security efforts.
« In this phase, it is critical that we build bridges to American-Muslim communities, not vilify them, not drive them into the shadows, and encourage them to work with us, » he said.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, a former U.S. secretary of state, has urged the United States and Europe to do more to defeat Islamic State and has slammed Cruz and Trump’s rhetoric toward Muslims.U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Clinton’s rival for the Democratic nomination, has also said he opposes surveillance of Muslim communities but backs stronger intelligence-sharing and monitoring of social media in the fight against Islamist militants.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Dollar slides after Yellen speech; S&P at 2016 high The U.S. dollar dropped sharply and stocks on Wall Street ended at 2016 highs after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed should proceed « cautiously » in deciding when to raise interest rates. « Given the risks to the outlook, I consider it appropriate for the Committee to proceed cautiously in adjusting policy, » Yellen said in remarks to the Economic Club of New York.
Yellen’s comments, her first since the Fed held rates steady two weeks ago, appeared to contradict recent hawkish comments from several of her colleagues.The dollar fell sharply against a basket of currencies in reaction to Yellen and dollar-priced commodities pared losses.
The Thomson Reuters Core Commodity index was down 0.6 percent after earlier falling as much as 1.4 percent. « Yellen took the dovish side in the great Fed debate and markets are reacting uniformly to her comments, » said John Augustine, chief investment officer at Huntington National Bank.
Crude oil prices cut losses in late trading after data showed a smaller-than-expected increase in inventories. On Wall Street, technology shares led gains in major indexes and both the S&P 500 and Dow Industrials closed at their highest levels of 2016.
The Dow Jones industrial average rose 97.72 points, or 0.56 percent, to 17,633.11, the S&P 500 gained 17.96 points, or 0.88 percent, to 2,055.01 and the Nasdaq Composite added 79.84 points, or 1.67 percent, to 4,846.62. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 stock index ended up 0.5 percent, before Yellen’s remarks. MSCI’s index of shares in major world markets rose 0.5 percent. Nikkei futures were up 0.7 percent.
WEAKER GREENBACK The U.S. dollar hit its lowest level against the euro in over a week and fell the most in two weeks against other major currencies after Yellen’s remarks.The euro hit its highest in seven trading sessions versus the greenback at $1.1303 and the dollar index fell 0.8 percent, the most since March 17.
« Given the much less-dovish-than-expected commentary we got from a number of Fed speakers last week, many were looking for a shift in tone from Ms. Yellen and we didn’t get that, » said Omer Esiner, chief market analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington.Brent crude oil fell 2.3 percent to $39.34 a barrel and U.S. crude lost 2.1 percent to $38.56 in a volatile session.
But crude futures pared losses late in the session after data showed inventories rose by 2.6 million barrels in the week to March 25, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 3.3 million barrels. WTI prices are up almost 50 percent from 12-year lows near $26 touched in February. But the rally has eased over the past week as supply looks set to keep rising.
The U.S. Treasury market rallied, with benchmark yields hitting four-week lows on the expectation that the Fed would raise interest rates only gradually due to global risks.
Benchmark 10-year Treasury notes were last up 20/32 in price for a yield of 1.8035 percent, down from 1.872 percent late on Monday.Spot gold jumped 1.7 percent, the most since March 16, to $1,240.81 per ounce after hitting a one-month low on Monday.
GLOBAL MARKETS-Shares and bonds rally, dollar off as Yellen strikes cautious stance Asian shares gained on Wednesday as markets scaled back expectations for how fast and far U.S. interest rates might rise this year, bruising the dollar and boosting sovereign bonds.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan firmed 0.7 percent, while the Australian market bounced 0.6 percent. Japan’s Nikkei was the only loser as a rise in the yen against the dollar nudged the index down 0.5 percent.
The sea change came after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen emphasised global dangers to growth and inflation, and thus the need to proceed « cautiously » on tightening policy. »Her comments stand somewhat in contrast to recent remarks by other FOMC members and are more clear in respect to downside risk factors, » said Michael Gapen, chief U.S. economist at Barclays.
« Hence, we see the comments as an effort to exert control over the message and, in doing so, tilt expectations for policy rate hikes in a decidedly dovish direction. » Debt markets rallied hard in response with yields on 10-year U.S. paper dropping 7 basis points to one-month low of 1.80 percent.
Fed fund futures <0#FF:> jumped as investors priced out any a chance of a hike in April and only a slim probability of a move in June. The December contract implies a rate of just 57 basis points compared to the current 37 basis points.
On Wall Street, technology shares led gains in major indexes and both the S&P 500 and Dow closed at their highs for 2016. The Dow rose 0.56 percent, while the S&P 500 gained 0.88 percent and the Nasdaq 1.67 percent.
Dollar bulls were not so pleased and the U.S. currency fell across the board. The dollar index was down at 95.108 early in Asia having suffered its biggest one-day fall in nearly two weeks.The greenback dipped to 112.51 yen and away from a two-week high of 113.80. It also lost ground on the euro to $1.1297, nearing the March peak of $1.1342.
Commodity currencies gained ground, with the Australian dollar back above 76 U.S. cents and not far off a recent 8-1/2 month peak of $0.7681.The drop in the U.S. dollar helped oil prices regain a little ground, as did a forecast that U.S. stockpiles may have grown by less than first thought.
Debt demon looms again over Africa The spectre of high debt is raising its head again in Africa, analysts say, as sub-Saharan nations that borrowed cheaply on global markets are now squeezed by a commodities crash.The return of debt troubles in Africa has caught some by surprise, they say, 20 years after a global campaign was mounted to offer debt relief to the world’s most impoverished nations.
« It is clearly a source of concern. People did not see it coming, » said Julien Marcilly, chief economist at French group Coface, which offers worldwide insurance to protect firms from the risk of clients defaulting.
An IMF-World Bank programme launched in 1996 has to date approved $76 billion (68 billion euros) in external debt relief for 36 of the world’s heavily indebted poor nations, of which 30 are in Africa.
For some of those countries, however, debt levels are rising again to worrying levels.
Relieved of their debt burdens by the international programme, countries enjoyed the budgetary freedom to boost economic growth, which was further propelled by soaring commodity prices. « Over the past few years, sub-Saharan African sovereigns have enjoyed unusually favourable financing conditions, » Standard & Poor’s said in a recent report.Many of them issued bonds for the first time to raise money on financial markets as borrowing costs slumped to record lows in mid-2014, the New York-based credit rating agency said.
« The tide has turned, » it warned, however, predicting that most of these countries would have to spend more and more over the next three years to service their debt.
Many of those sub-Saharan countries will face a difficult choice between cutting spending or being obliged to pay higher debt and interest payments in the future, Standard & Poor’s said. And this time, a large part of the debt is held by private creditors, rather than institutions such as the IMF or World Bank. »The depreciation of local currencies, often related to the recent commodity price decline, has inflated foreign currency debt for several sub-Saharan African sovereigns, » Standard & Poor’s added.
– ‘Debt trap’ – A study by the French Treasury said the IMF-World Bank initiative had slashed the average external public debt of the 30 African countries from the equivalent of 119 percent of annual economic output to just 33 percent between 2000 and 2014.Yet some are now sliding deeper into debt at a « very sustained pace », the Treasury said.
Of the 30 African countries that had previously secured international debt relief, 13 have pushed up their debt levels by the equivalent of 10 percentage points of annual gross domestic product (GDP) in the past five years, it said.
The Republic of Congo led the list, with its external debt rising by 25 percentage points as a proportion of annual GDP, followed by Niger, up 23 percentage points, and Malawi, up 19 percentage points. There is no short-term risk of a new debt crisis for the great majority of African countries, the French Treasury said.But « a small number of them have seen a period of very sustained debt growth », it said, warning that they could soon return close to the levels of external debt that reigned before the global debt relief initiative.
Seven countries faced the risk of elevated debt levels at the end of 2015, the Treasury said: Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Ghana; Mauritania; and Sao Tome and Principe. « We must ensure we do not fall again into the debt trap, » African Development Bank president Akinwumi Adesina warned at a conference of business leaders in Abidjan this month.
Despite a recent rise in debt levels, African countries remain less indebted than many advanced economies. »The total public debt of Africa amounted to 38 percent of continental GDP in 2014 compared with 111 percent for OECD nations, » said Carlos Lopes, executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
« Debt levels will deteriorate in countries with a weak level of budgetary discipline and those that have borrowed excessively, » Lopes said. He urged countries to strengthen debt management capacity and to report on how they are using their borrowed funds.
Giant rats to sniff out tuberculosis in Tanzania, Mozambique prisons S cientists in East Africa plan to exploit trained rats’ highly developed sense of smell to carry out mass screening for tuberculosis among inmates of crowded prisons in Tanzania and Mozambique. African Giant Pouched Rats trained by the Belgian non governmental organisation APOPO are widely known for their work sniffing out landmines, and are now developing a reputation in East Africa for their skill and speed at detecting TB too.
Tuberculosis is the leading cause of death, after HIV, from an infectious disease. Around the world, there are about 9 million new cases a year and around 2 million deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
In Tanzania, people in communities where TB is most common, including prisons, often fail to show up for screening because of lack of money or awareness, creating a huge burden for health authorities trying to tackle the disease, health officials said.
Because existing systems lack the accuracy, speed and cost-efficiency required to scale up screening of the highly contagious disease, many TB cases go undiagnosed, they said.
APOPO, with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID,) plans to recruit and train more rats to carry out prison screening that it expects to be faster and more reliable than existing methods.
« We believe our unique TB Detection Rat technology will prove itself as an effective mass-screening tool, » said APOPO’s U.S. director, Charlie Richter. « We then aim to expand the programme to all prisons, shantytowns, factories and other settings in Tanzania, Mozambique and other high TB-burden countries, as well as in high-risk groups such as those individuals living with HIV/AIDS.
This will improve and save lives all over the globe at a low cost, » Richter said.Though data from African jails is hard to come by, studies from Tanzania, Malawi and Ivory Coast show that TB rates are 10 times higher in prisons than in the general population, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
TRAINING STARTS AT FOUR WEEKS OLD APOPO says the rats undergo a rigorous training process that begins when they are four weeks old. As soon as the rats open their eyes, they are introduced to various stimuli and learn how to socialize and interact with people.
The rats learn to recognise the presence of TB in samples of sputum, mucus that is coughed up from the patient’s lower airways, and rewarded when they succeed.
The testing process starts when a rat is presented with a row of 10 sputum samples, and when it detects TB the rat hovers over the sample for 3 seconds, Richter said.
The rats’ accuracy at detecting TB is almost 100 percent, but they cannot distinguish between normal and drug-resistant strains, APOPO scientists say.
The APOPO system is fast, cheap and has the potential to greatly lower screening costs in poor countries, Richter said.
While a laboratory technician may take four days to detect tuberculosis, a trained rat can screen 100 samples in 20 minutes, and a rat screening can cost as little as 20 US cents when APOPO operations are running near capacity, he said.
APOPO’s current programmes have screened more than 340,000 TB samples, halting over 36,000 further infections, and increased detection rates by over 40 percent in several partnered clinics, officials said.
Khadija Abraham, an expert at Tanzania’s National Leprosy and Tuberculosis Programme, said trained rats had a great ability to detect a wide range of strong-smelling molecules that could help tracking down undiagnosed TB cases, especially in rural areas.
« Training an animal with a strong and reliable sense of smell to help detect disease in a vast country like Tanzania could potentially offer a valuable solution to help detecting the disease, » she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Training pouched rats requires little human skill since they only have to be exposed to the smell they need to recognize, Abraham said.
« Experiments show that these rats can detect a sample with TB parasites in a second and evidence has shown that they are able to sniff out even those with very minimal parasites, »she said.
TB cases are normally detected by sputum smear microscopy, a slow and costly process that has not changed for years and is not very accurate. The WHO insists that one lab technician should not test more than 20 patients a day, and says the chances of misdiagnosis are high if this exceeded.