Month: August 2018

Iran Eases Currency Rules, Hoping to Buoy Rial Ahead of Sanctions

Posted on by SeeEA

Iran will ease foreign exchange rules, state TV reported on Sunday, in a bid to halt a collapse of the rial currency that has lost half its value since April due to fears about U.S. sanctions likely to be imposed this week.

President Donald Trump’s decision to pull out of an agreement to lift sanctions in return for Iran limiting its nuclear program caused a run on the rial as companies and savers bought hard currency to protect themselves from the economic sanctions that could be imposed from Monday.

The plunge in the currency and soaring inflation have sparked sporadic demonstrations against profiteering and corruption, with many protesters chanting anti-government slogans.

The central bank has blamed “enemies” for the fall of the currency, and the judiciary said 29 people had been arrested on charges that carry the death penalty. On Sunday the judiciary said it had arrested a further seven people, including a former deputy central bank governor and five foreign exchange dealers.

A state body led by President Hassan Rouhani and including the heads of the judiciary and parliament on Sunday partially lifted a ban on the sale of foreign currency at floating rates, allowing exchange bureaux to sell at unofficial market rates for purposes such as overseas travel.

That reverses the decision in April to ban trading currency outside the rate of about 42,000 rials to the dollar Ahead of the announcement of the new measures, the rial gained slightly on the unofficial market, trading at 98,500 to the dollar, compared with 103,000 on Saturday, according to foreign exchange website Boncast.com.

Central bank governor Abdolnaser Hemmati said the plan reflected Iran’s self-confidence in the face of the looming U.S. sanctions.

“This shows our power. The same day you (Americans) impose sanctions we open our economy. We have no problems, so why should our people worry?,” Hemmati said in a live televised interview.

Hemmati said the central bank would allow a “managed float” of the rial’s exchange rate and try to avoid using up its reserves to support the currency.

“The central bank will try not to interfere in setting the price of hard currencies, which will be determined by supply and demand, however, the bank’s supervision will prevent unbridled (market swings) and the creation of a black market,” Hemmati said.

To encourage Iranians to return their hard cash to the economy, the plan allows the central bank to set up dollar savings accounts for ordinary people, state television said. Non-oil exporters will be allowed to sell hard currency to importers, and there will be no limit on bringing currency or gold into the country.

Hard currency will be made available at a subsidized rate for purchases of basic goods and medicine, state television quoted a government statement about the plan as saying. In July, Iran opened a secondary foreign-exchange market for importers of non-essential goods that are not eligible to receive the preferential rate from the central bank.

Starting this week, Washington will re-impose sanctions on Iran’s purchases of U.S. dollars, its trade in gold and precious metals, and its dealings with metals, coal and industrial-related software.

The United States has told third countries they must halt imports of Iranian oil from early November or face U.S. financial measures.
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Trump Acknowledges Purpose of Meeting with Russian Lawyer

Posted on by SeeUS

President Donald Trump on Sunday acknowledged that the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between a Kremlin-connected lawyer and his son was to collect information about his political opponent, casting new light on a moment central to the special counsel’s Russia probe.

Trump, amid a series of searing tweets sent from his New Jersey golf club, tore into two of his favorite targets, the news media and Robert Mueller’s ongoing investigation into possible links between the president’s campaign and Russia. Trump unleashed particularly fury at reports that he was anxious about the Trump Tower meeting attended by Donald Trump Jr. and other senior campaign officials.

“Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower,” Trump wrote. “This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!”

But 13 months ago, Trump gave a far different explanation for the meeting. A July 2017 statement dictated by the president read: “We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago.”

But since then, the story about the meeting has changed several times, eventually forced by the discovery of emails between the president’s eldest son and an intermediary from the Russian government offering damaging information about Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton. Betraying no surprise or misgivings about the offer from a hostile foreign power, Trump Jr. replied: “If it’s what you say I love it especially later in the summer.”

Sunday’s tweet was Trump’s clearest statement yet on the purpose of the meeting, which has become a focal point of Mueller’s investigation even as the president and his lawyers try to downplay its significance and pummel the Mueller probe with attacks. On Sunday, Trump again suggested without evidence that Mueller was biased against him, declaring, “This is the most one sided Witch Hunt in the history of our country.”

And as Trump and his allies have tried to discredit the probe, a new talking point has emerged: that even if that meeting was held to collect damaging information, none was provided and “collusion” — Trump’s go-to description of what Mueller is investigating — never occurred.

“The question is what law, statute or rule or regulation has been violated, and nobody has pointed to one,” said Jay Sekulow, one of Trump’s attorneys, on ABC’s “This Week.”

But legal experts have pointed out several possible criminal charges, including conspiracy against the United States and aiding and abetting a conspiracy. And despite Trump’s public Twitter denial, the president has expressed worry that his son may face legal exposure even as he believes he did nothing wrong, according to three people close to the White House familiar with the president’s thinking but not authorized to speak publicly about private conversations.

Sekulow acknowledged that the public explanation for the meeting has changed but insisted that the White House has been very clear with the special counsel’s office. He said he was not aware of Trump Jr. facing any legal exposure.

“I don’t represent Don Jr.,” Sekulow said, “but I will tell you I have no knowledge at all of Don Jr. being told that he’s a target of any investigation, and I have no knowledge of him being interviewed by the special counsel.”

Trump’s days of private anger spilled out into public with the Twitter outburst, which comes at a perilous time for the president.

A decision about whether he sits for an interview with Mueller may also occur in the coming weeks, according to another one of his attorneys, Rudy Giuliani. Trump has seethed against what he feels are trumped-up charges against his former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, whose trial began last week and provided a visible reminder of Mueller’s work.

And he raged against the media’s obsession with his links to Russia and the status of Michael Cohen, his former fixer, who is under federal investigation in New York. Cohen has indicated that he would tell prosecutors that Trump knew about the Trump Tower meeting ahead of time.

Despite a show of force from his national security team this week as a warning against future Russian election meddling, Trump again deemed the matter a “hoax” this week. And at a trio of rallies, he escalated his already vitriolic rhetoric toward the media, savaging the press for unflattering coverage and, he feels, bias.

“The Fake News hates me saying that they are the Enemy of the People only because they know it’s TRUE,” Trump tweeted Sunday. “I am providing a great service by explaining this to the American People. They purposely cause great division & distrust. They can also cause War! They are very dangerous & sick!”

The fusillade of tweets came from Bedminster, Trump’s golf course, where he is ensconced in a property that bears his name at every turn and is less checked in by staffers. It was at the New Jersey golf club where a brooding Trump has unleashed other inflammatory attacks and where, in spring 2017, he made the final decision to fire FBI Director James Comey, the move that triggered the Russia probe.

Trump was joined for his Saturday rally in Ohio by former White House communications director Hope Hicks, who departed the administration earlier this year. Her unannounced presence raised some eyebrows as Hicks has been interviewed by Mueller and was part of the team of staffers that helped draft the original statement on the Trump Tower meeting.

Multiple White House officials have been interviewed while still working at the White House and have remained in contact with the president.
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Vanilla Vigilante Farmers in Madagascar Take Matters Into their Own Hands

Posted on by SeeAF

The island of Madagascar, on the east coast of Southern Africa, produces half of the world’s natural vanilla. But as this year’s season for the valuable crop begins, theft and even murder are becoming rampant. Some farmers say they aren’t going to take it anymore and have formed vigilante groups to watch over their crops. VOA’s Mariama Diallo reports.
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US-China Trade Battle Escalates

Posted on by SeeUS

Washington is observing the latest escalation in tensions between the United States and its trading partners, with China threatening to slap tariffs on more than 5,000 American-made products totaling $60 billion. VOA’s Michael Bowman reports, Beijing’s announcement came after the Trump administration proposed raising tariffs on $200 billion of Chinese goods, continuing a tit-for-tat trade battle that is alarming many in the U.S. business community and dividing the Republican Party.
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Army Takes Control of Key Roads, Buildings in Troubled Ethiopian Region

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Ethiopian soldiers have taken control of major highways, government buildings and the airport in the eastern Somali region after violence in the capital of Jigjiga left at least 29 people dead.

Fighting broke out Friday after an apparent rift between local authorities and the central Ethiopian government.

It is unclear exactly what led to the violence. A senior official with the region’s Somali People’s Democratic Party, Khadar Abdi Ismail, tells VOA the federal forces are responsible for the deaths.

He blames the violence on what he calls public anger over “the illegal entry of the dangerously armed troops” into the city. Ismail says non-Somali ethnic communities were targeted, shops looted, buildings burned and at least one church destroyed.

Ethiopia’s military has vowed to take the “necessary measures … to restore order in the Ethiopian Somali regional state.”

The government recently accused regional officials of carrying out human rights abuses

The U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia is urging Americans in the region to shelter in place and pay attention to local news reports for updates on the situation.

There are several thousand regional paramilitary fighters known as the Liyu police, a force created in 2007 primarily to quell the rebellion of the Ogaden National Liberation Front. Liyu police have been accused of committing brutality and torture against supporters of ONLF.

Ethiopia’s Somali region was the first area visited by new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed after he was selected by the ruling party last April

At the time of the visit, Ahmed was trying to ease tensions between the ethnic Somali and Oromo communities, which have been engaged in deadly tit-for-tat attacks that have claimed the lives of dozens of people.

Kenneth Schwartz contributed to this report.
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Deadly Blasts Hit Somalia

Posted on by SeeAF

At least six people were killed and 13 others were wounded in two bombings in Somalia on Sunday, ambulance services and officials said.

The deadliest blast occurred in the capital, Mogadishu, where at four people were killed in a car bombing outside a coffee shop on the capital’s busiest road.

Dr Abdulkadir Abdirahman Aden of the Mogadishu ambulance services told VOA Somali that they have evacuated the dead bodies. Officials believe the car was driven by a suicide bomber.

The blast caused huge damage to the coffee shop and nearby buildings, according to the witnesses. No one claimed responsibility for the blast

Earlier in the day, two people were killed and four others were wounded after a suicide car bomb exploded near a military vehicle in Afgoye. Deputy Governor of Lower Shabelle region Ali Nur Mohamed told VOA Somali that all victims were government soldiers.

The suicide bomber chased the pickup truck transporting the soldiers but detonated when it was unable to catch up with, officials said.

The al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility of the attack in Afgoye, 30 km west of Mogadishu.

Meanwhile, the Somali government said two militants killed in a shootout with security forces were responsible for the assassination of a young business entrepreneur in Mogadishu on Tuesday.

The killing of the business entrepreneur Mohamed Mohamoud Sheikh Ali led to public protests in Mogadishu by activists and youth members who demanded accountability.

 
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S. Sudan’s Warring Leaders Sign Peace Deal to Share Power

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South Sudan’s warring parties signed a peace deal on Sunday in the latest attempt to end the country’s five-year civil war, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.

President Salva Kiir and former Vice-President and rebel opposition leader, Riek Machar signed the agreement, said Sudan’s state news agency, SUNA.

 

As part of the deal, Kiir will remain president and Machar will return to the country as the First Vice President, one of five vice presidents. There will be an eight month pre-transitional period led by Kiir, followed by a three year transitional period. The government will include 20 ministers from Kiir’s party, nine from Machar’s and six from other groups, said the agreement.

 

This is the latest of several attempts at peace agreements and cease-fires since war broke out in 2013. The first peace agreement fell apart in July 2016 when fighting erupted in the capital Juba and Machar fled the country on foot. He’s since been under house arrest in South Africa.

 

South Sudan’s government insists this time things will be different between the two leaders and Machar has “learned the hard way” and has promised to work with Kiir because he doesn’t want to go back to South Africa, said government spokesman, Michael Makuei, at a press conference in Juba last week. Upon his return, Machar’s troops are to go to cantonment sites for training to be unified with the government army, he said.

 

At least one South Sudan expert is calling the deal “a high-risk model” for trying to end the conflict.

 

“In 2013, Riek competed to replace Kiir and Kiir violently expelled him. In 2016, Riek competed to replace Kiir and Kiir violently expelled him. Both events led to large-scale atrocities. This peace deal sets up the exact same scenario for the third time,” said Alan Boswell a South Sudan conflict analyst. “When it fails, it fails explosively.”

 

Multiple cease-fires have been signed in recent years, all of which have been violated within hours of being implemented. The international community’s patience has been waning with the young nation and last month the U.N. Security Council imposed an arms embargo.

 

In July South Sudan’s parliament extended the government’s mandate until 2021, angering the opposition, which said the government was “playing games” at the negotiating table.

Feelings in the nation remain mixed. “Of course peace will come, because we’re tired of war,” said Juba resident Santino Deng.

 

Some rights groups applaud the deal, but cautioning that it’s only a first step.

 

 “To prevent a return to war, the agreement must ensure that overwhelming power is not concentrated in a few hands,” said Brian Adeba, deputy director of policy at the Enough Project, a Washington-based advocacy group.

 

Edmund Yakani, executive director of Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, a local rights group called the deal a positive development, but said he’s not fully convinced.

 

“The challenge is the will the political leaders and we are expecting them to take primary responsibility for making peace happen in South Sudan,” he said.

 

 
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News Agency: Saudis to Issue Visas to Iran Interests Section

Posted on by SeeEA

Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency is reporting that Saudi Arabia has agreed to issue visas to the head of Iran’s Saudi Arabian Interests Section and its staff.

 

Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic relations with Iran in January 2016 after Iranian protesters attacked its embassy and consulate in Tehran over the execution of top Saudi opposition cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr

 

The Sunday report quotes an unnamed source as saying that Saudi Arabia agreed to issue the visas.

 

Saudi state media did not immediately acknowledge the report.

 

Tensions have spiked between the mostly Sunni kingdom and the Shi’ite power Iran after Yemen’s Iran-backed rebels, known as Houthis, fired a missile that was intercepted outside Riyadh.

 

Iran has welcomed Arab countries’ offers for mediation between Tehran and Riyadh.

 

 
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Suicide Car Bomb Hits Military Base in Central Somalia

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A Somali police officer says a suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle killing four people near the gate of a military base in Afgoye town, 30 kilometers (18 miles) northwest of Mogadishu.

 

Col. Ahmed Ali said that two of the dead were soldiers and fatalities could increase from the 10 injured in the blast Sunday, which was close to the former national water agency’s offices.

 

Residents report hearing a powerful explosion, followed by gunfire from the base. Addow Isse, a resident in the town, said he saw at least three bodies lying in a pool of blood.

 
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UN: Attacks on Yemen’s Port of Hodeidah Would Be Catastrophic

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United Nations aid agencies are renewing appeals to Yemen’s warring parties to spare the Port of Hodeidah, warning attacks against the vital lifeline would be catastrophic.

The United Nations warns that Yemen, where the world’s worst humanitarian crisis is unfolding, would suffer even more if the vital Port of Hodeidah were attacked and ceased to operate.

More than three years of civil war have destroyed the country’s economy, forced more than two million people to flee their homes and made 22 million people or 75 percent of the population dependent upon international aid for their survival.

Around 80 percent of Yemen’s food and medicine is imported through the Port of Hodeidah. Jens Laerke is Spokesman for the U.N. Organization for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs or OCHA. He said fuel and other essential humanitarian relief also arrive via the port.

“OCHA warns that sustained hostilities in Hodeidah city, interruptions to the port operations, which are critical for vital imports of food and fuel or a siege of the city would be catastrophic. There is no contingency plan that can effectively protect civilians from the humanitarian consequences if the conflict escalates further. The response capacity of international organizations on the ground would quickly be overwhelmed,” he said.

To further complicate matters, the World Health Organization warns the country may be on the brink of another major cholera epidemic. WHO emergency response chief, Peter Salama told VOA essential medications needed to fight this fatal disease are imported through the Port of Hodeidah.

“So, for humanitarian perspective, but also for commercial perspective, the Al Hodeidah port is absolutely central to the survival of the civilian population in Yemen.So, any attacks on that port are something that would lead to catastrophic consequences,” he said.

The United Nations reports more than 28,000 Yemenis either have been killed or injured since March 2015. That was when Saudi Arabia began bombing Houthi rebels in support of the government. The U.N. attributes the majority of the 9,500 civilian deaths to airstrikes.
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Egypt Says Troops Have Killed 52 Militants in Sinai

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Egypt says its security forces have killed at least 52 suspected militants in recent days in the restive northern Sinai Peninsula.

The military said in a statement Sunday that another 49 suspected militants have been arrested. It says it destroyed 26 hideouts and weapons depots, and dismantled 64 explosive devices.

The military says airstrikes destroyed 32 vehicles containing weapons and ammunition in the Western Desert and in the south.

It wasn’t possible to independently confirm the claims as access to the northern Sinai is heavily restricted.

Egypt launched a nationwide operation against militants in February. It has struggled to combat a long-running insurgency in the Sinai that gained strength after the military overthrew a divisive Islamist president in 2013 and which is now affiliated with the Islamic State group.
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Croatia Celebrates 1995 Blitz Serbia Compares to Nazi Policy

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Croatia is celebrating a victorious 1995 military offensive in which it retook lands held by rebel Serbs, but which Serbia’s president has compared to the policies of Nazi Germany during World War II.

The starkly conflicting views by the two main Balkan rivals of the August 1995 military blitz that resulted in an exodus of more than 200,000 minority Serbs from Croatia illustrates the persisting divisions in the region stemming from the 1990s’ war.

 

While Croatia on Sunday hailed the offensive as a flawless military victory that reunited the country’s territory and ended the war, neighboring Serbia mourned the hundreds of victims killed during the attack.

 

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic told a gathering late Saturday that “Hitler wanted a world without Jews; Croatia and its policy wanted a Croatia without Serbs.”

 

 
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Bodies of 3 Russian Journalists Killed in Africa Return Home

Posted on by SeeEU

The bodies of three Russian journalists who were killed in Central African Republic have been brought back to Moscow, where they are to undergo a forensic examination.

Svetlana Petrenko, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Investigative Committee, said Sunday the bodies had been turned over to committee experts and would be examined “with the goal of establishing the cause of the Russians’ death.”

 

The journalists were ambushed and killed Monday outside the town of Sibut. They were investigating a Russian private security company that was operating in CAR as well as Russian ties to the local mining industry. The project was funded by exiled opposition figure Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a longtime foe of President Vladimir Putin.

 

Officials in CAR say the journalists were kidnapped by men wearing turbans and speaking Arabic. Their bodies had gunshot wounds.

 
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Lisbon Sets Record in Persistent Heat Wave 

Posted on by SeeEU

Lisbon has broken a 37-year-old record to notch its highest temperature ever as an unrelenting wave of heat bakes Portugal and neighboring Spain.

Portugal’s weather service said the capital reached 44 degrees Celsius (111.2 degrees Fahrenheit) Saturday, surpassing the city’s previous record of 43 C (109.4 F) set in 1981.

 

The day’s highest temperature of 46.8 C (116.2 F) was recorded at Alvega in the center of Portugal. The country’s highest temperature on record is 47.4 C (117.3 F) from 2003.

The hot, dusty conditions across the Iberian Peninsula are the result of a mass of hot air from Africa.

Sunday’s forecast calls for temperatures to dip slightly while remaining extremely high.
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Mural Artist Kelly Towles: Painting DC Happy

Posted on by SeeUS

To many, Washington, is solely about politics, lobbying and all things administration. But to one man, the U.S. capital is a canvas that is just waiting to be filled with smiles and mysterious characters. Mural artist Kelly Towles has spilled some color on Washington’s manicured streets and turned a controversial occupation into a profitable business that leaves everyone happy. Anna Rice has the story.
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Citizen Scientists Chart Marine Mammals

Posted on by SeeEU

Charting marine mammal behavior is no easy feat, but that’s exactly what a group of international citizen scientists is doing off the coast of Italy. As Faith Lapidus reports, they are spending a week on the high seas with researchers from the Milan-based Tethys Research Institute studying whales, dolphins and a host of other marine mammals that live in the Mediterranean Sea.
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Pompeo Wraps Up Southeast Asia Tour 

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U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has wrapped up his Southeast Asia tour.

Before leaving Sunday to return to Washington, he met with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, telling him the U.S. values its ties with Indonesia, one of the world’s largest democracies.

Saturday, the top U.S. diplomat met with his Indonesian counterpart Retno Marsudi. The secretary and the foreign minister discussed bilateral cooperation and multilateral engagement on regional security challenges, including North Korea and counterterrorism, as well as other foreign policy issues of mutual interest.

North Korea

Pompeo arrived in Jakarta Saturday from Singapore, where there were mixed messages on relations between the U.S. and North Korea amid talks over de-nuclearization. On the plane to Jakarta, State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert told reporters Pompeo and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Hu approached each other during the “family photo” session and shook hands.

Pompeo said, “We should talk again soon,” to which North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Hu responded, “I agree. There are many productive conversations to be had.”

After that, U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim delivered to Ri a letter from President Donald Trump to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The contents of the letter were not disclosed.

A senior U.S. administration official said the brief encounter between Pompeo and his North Korean counterpart was not surprising. 

“This is to be expected. Much of the intervention was positive and that’s an improvement from the past. We’re building a relationship with North Korea after years of difficult relations,” the official said.

​Pyongyang statement

Pompeo left the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to head to his final stop in Jakarta. After he left the room, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri delivered a statement saying his country is committed to adhering to the agreements made between Trump and Kim at the Singapore summit in June. But he called the U.S. attitude on urging other countries to keep up the sanctions on North Korea “alarming” and said it was not what Trump wants.

Ri’s remarks followed the release of a United Nations report warning that North Korea has found ways to navigate around the sanctions. The report said North Korea has had a “massive increase” of illegal ship-to-ship transfers of oil products at sea to evade sanctions.

The report also documented violations of a ban on North Korean exports, including coal, iron and seafood, all of which generate millions of dollars of revenue for Pyongyang. There also are indications the North is continuing to build rockets, and concerns the nation has not been clear about when and how it will disarm.

​Sanctions taken seriously

Pompeo said the U.S. is taking any infringement of the sanctions very seriously.

“We have seen reports that Russia is allowing for joint ventures with North Korean firms and granting new work permits to North Korean guest workers,” Pompeo said.

“If these reports are proven accurate, and we have every reason to believe that they are, that would be in violation of U.N. sanctions,” he said.

Friday, the U.S. Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions on a Russian bank for helping North Korea avoid U.N. Security Council actions intended to restrain Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. The agency said Moscow-based Agrosoyuz Commercial Bank expedited “a significant transaction” with an individual who the U.S. blacklisted for being involved in North Korea’s weapons development programs.

Treasury said the Russian bank conducted the transaction for Han Jang Su, the Moscow-based head of North Korea’s Foreign Trade Bank (FTB), Pyongyang’s primary foreign exchange bank. Han’s deputy, Ri Jong Won, who also is based in Moscow, also was targeted by the sanctions.

The department said both Han and Ri should be expelled from Russia under U.N. resolutions designed to pressure North Korea for its weapons programs. And Treasury targeted what it said were two FTB front companies, China-based Dandong Zhongsheng Industry & Trade Co. Ltd. and Korea Ungum Corporation.

​Reuters journalists

Before leaving the ASEAN summit in Singapore, Pompeo met with Myanmar Foreign Minister Kyaw Tin and called for the immediate release of two Reuters journalists detained in the Southeast Asian country.

State Department spokesperson Nauert told VOA that Pompeo raised the issue during a sideline meeting and added that the U.S. is very concerned about their detention. The journalists were charged with possessing documents linked to security operations against Rohingya militants in Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state.

Additionally, Pompeo also met Saturday with South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono and Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

He signed a memorandum of understanding with Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan for the U.S.-Singapore Third Country Training Program, which supports community-building efforts among the 10 ASEAN member states.

​Tariff threats

Pompeo met Friday with Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi in Singapore. The two men did not speak to the press after the meeting, but shortly thereafter China warned it would impose new tariffs on $60 billion worth of U.S. goods if the Trump administration follows through with its latest trade threats.

The Commerce Ministry said the proposed tariffs of 5 percent to 25 percent on more than 5,200 U.S. goods are restrained, and maintained it has the right to take retaliatory action in the escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies.

On Thursday, the Chinese Foreign Minister told reporters the U.S. needed to calm down and consider its own consumers, responding to threats by the Trump administration to raise its proposed tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from the initially planned 10 percent to 25 percent.

The U.S. says it wants China to stop stealing U.S. corporate secrets and stop subsidizing Chinese companies with cheap loans that give them an unfair advantage.
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Detained Chinese Professor Moved to Unknown Location

Posted on by SeeUS

Sun Wenguang, a retired professor from the Shandong province of northeastern China, who was apparently detained by Chinese authorities during a live-telephone interview with VOA last week, has been moved from a military-run hotel where he was held to an undisclosed location, hotel personnel told Voice of America’s Mandarin Service Sunday morning.

On Thursday, sources told VOA Mandarin that the 84-year-old professor was being detained at Yanzi Mountain Villa at Jinan Military Region, a military-linked hotel and reception center in Jinan, eastern China. 

He had been taken away during a live telephone interview on the VOA Mandarin television show Issues & Opinions Wednesday morning as he was criticizing China’s foreign aid and diplomatic strategy in Africa. During the interview, Sun told VOA that authorities were breaking into his house in an attempt to prevent him from speaking out against the government.

After a VOA reporter checked into the hotel in Jinan Saturday, he and an assistant began a surveillance of the professor’s room for signs of movement. The shades remain closed. On Sunday morning, a VOA reporter knocked on the room door. There was no answer.

In interviews with sources at the reception desk on the first floor, the VOA reporter learned that authorities had moved the professor to another location two days earlier.

​No information on detention

Chinese authorities have disclosed no information about why the professor was detained. VOA tried to reach the Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China for comment, but the mobile phone open to the public was turned off, and the landline was not answered.

The Public Security Department of Shandong University and the Shanda Road Police Station of Jinan’s Public Security Bureau were also contacted. Neither would comment.

The arrest of Sun has come at a sensitive time when the rule of Chinese leader Xi Jinping is being seriously challenged.

Observers say that has led to the security apparatus’ swift action in crushing the country’s rising anti-government sentiments, which they see as a threat to the Communist Party’s regime.

After his “enforced disappearance,” rights activists at home and abroad are demanding that China immediately release Sun for fear he may face physical torture, criminal charges or both.

They also are urging the international society to call for a systemic change of China’s political and legal framework, in which they say the state is continuing to abuse its power and crack down on dissidents.

Nodes of independence in China

“It’s absolutely part of the attempts under Xi Jinping to find every little node of independence in society and crush it,” said Michael Caster, co-founder of Safeguard Defenders. Sun’s arrest has to do with “the political situation in mainland China, including the image of Xi Jinping recently also being challenged by [those] both inside and outside [the] establishment.”

“That may also [pose] a security concern” to Chinese authorities, said Richard Tsoi, vice chairman of Hong Kong Alliance.

Caster added that Sun makes an obvious target under China’s intensified crackdown on dissidents since he has had a long track record of being critical of the state and is a signatory of Charter 08, a manifesto drafted by the late Chinese Nobel Laureate Liu Xiaobo to advocate reforms that would result in a separation of powers, a new constitution and legislative democracy in China.

Speaking out

Critics have been emboldened by a recent vaccine scandal in China, a trade spat with the United States, and economic headwinds, and are openly questioning Xi’s sweeping control. This includes Xu Zhangrun, a law professor from Tsinghua University, who has delivered what was believed to be the fiercest denunciation yet of Xi from a Chinese academic.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Xu “challenged political taboos” at a time when the voice of Chinese intellectuals is dying out.

Xu urged the Chinese government to overturn its condemnation of the pro-democracy Tiananmen protests in 1989, calling on Chinese lawmakers to reverse the vote that abolished a two-term limit on Xi’s presidency.

Many are keeping an eye on how authorities will deal with Xu once he returns to China from Japan or whether he will encourage others to speak out.

Relentless harassment

Before Xu, Sun has long been outspoken, which has made him a target of constant harassment by the communist government.

Earlier this year, Shandong University’s Communist party chapter ruled to cut Sun’s retirement pension by almost half for what it said were his subversive remarks, and it further threatened to eliminate altogether his pension if he continued to talk to foreign media.

Sun had been under intense scrutiny for some time, and security officers had staked out his apartment, keeping a tab on all of his movement.

Rights activists are concerned about what may be coming next for Sun.

“The legal system in China is serving purely to the will of the party, and so if they decide to conjugate some charges against him, then they will. Or they’ll hold him for an indefinite period of time,” Caster said.

He said Sun may share a fate similar to that of his one-time defender and legal counsel, Wang Quanzhang. Wang vanished more than three years ago and has not been heard from since, although he reportedly was seen in the Tianjin No. 1 Detention Center by a former colleague. Wang’s wife has said reports are that her husband is alive in a decent physical and mental state.

Sun also may be forced into making a televised confession. A report from Safeguard Defenders concludes the state has grown heavily reliant on illegal forced confessions by detainees to denounce rights activists and dissidents for both a domestic and international audience.

False charges

In addition, Sun could face charges of colluding with a foreign power, according to Hunan-based rights activist Ou Biaofeng.

“As a minimum, [he will be given] a warning or [put under] house arrest. Or the authorities may make up some false charges against him, for example, collusion with foreign hostile forces,” Ou said, calling authorities in China “barbaric, ridiculous and evil” in suppressing the true voice of its citizens.

International rights groups, including Reporter Without Borders (RSF), have joined hands to throw support behind Sun and demand his immediate release.

“The professor is known for his assertive public interventions against censorship and propaganda. RSF demands his immediate release and stresses that freedom of speech and freedom of the press are explicitly written the Constitution of the People’s Republic of China,” its statement read.

“China may be richer, [but certainly not freer.] The regime has intensified its suppression on rights crusaders and dissidents by having lawyers arrested and using technologies to launch a full-scale surveillance on the public’s freedom of speech online or offline. China has gone overboard,” said Chiu Ee-ling, secretary-general of Taiwan Association for Human Rights.

VOA’s Mandarin Service contributed to this report.
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UK Trade Minister: EU Is Pushing Britain to No-deal Brexit

Posted on by SeeEU

British Trade Minister Liam Fox said “intransigence” from the European Union was pushing Britain toward a no-deal Brexit, in an interview published on Saturday by the Sunday Times.

With less than eight months until Britain quits the EU, the government has yet to agree a divorce deal with Brussels and has stepped up planning for the possibility of leaving the bloc without any formal agreement.

Fox, a promiment Brexit supporter in Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet, put the odds of Britain leaving the European Union without agreeing upon a deal over their future relationship at 60-40.

“I think the intransigence of the commission is pushing us towards no deal,” Fox told the Times after a trade mission in Japan.

“We have set out the basis in which a deal can happen, but if the EU decides that the theological obsession of the unelected is to take priority over the economic well-being of the people of Europe, then it’s a bureaucrats’ Brexit — not a people’s Brexit — [and] then there is only going to be one outcome.”

It was up to the EU whether it wanted to put “ideological purity” ahead of the real economy, Fox said.

If Britain fails to agree the terms of its divorce with the EU and leaves without even a transition agreement to smooth its exit, it would revert to trading under World Trade Organization rules in March 2019.

Most economists think this would cause serious harm to the world’s No. 5 economy as trade with the EU, Britain’s largest market, would become subject to tariffs.

Supporters of Brexit say there may be some short-term pain for Britain’s $2.9 trillion economy, but that in the long term it will prosper when cut free from the EU, which some of them cast as a failing German-dominated experiment in European integration.

On Friday, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said the chances of a no-deal Brexit had become “uncomfortably high.”
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Trump Reshapes Midterms to Some GOP Concern

Posted on by SeeUS

President Donald Trump’s strategy of becoming aggressively involved in the midterm elections is prompting concern among some Republicans who worry he’s complicating the political calculus for GOP candidates trying to outrun his popularity.

Those Republicans worry their statewide candidates may rise or fall based on Trump’s standing, muddling their path to maintain control of Congress.

But Trump has no plans to step out of the spotlight. He held a rally Saturday night in Ohio and plans to host two fundraisers at the Trump National Golf Course in Bedminster, New Jersey, next week, benefitting Senate and House candidates, according to a campaign official with knowledge of the president’s events. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details about the fundraisers that haven’t yet been publicly released.

​Star of the midterms

The president is casting himself as the star of the midterms, eagerly inserting himself into hotly contested primaries, headlining rallies in pivotal swing states and increasing his fundraising efforts for Republicans. Last week, Trump agreed to donate a portion of his re-election fund to 100 GOP candidates running in competitive House and Senate races.

He’s expected to be even more aggressive in the fall. White House officials say he’s reserving time on his schedule for a midterm travel and fundraising schedule likely to surpass that of former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

“This is now about Donald Trump,” said Al Cardenas, a former Florida Republican chairman. “It’s a high-risk, high-stakes proposition.”

Enough to win?

The question facing Republicans is whether turning out those Trump loyalists is enough to win in toss-up congressional districts or if their path to victory depends more on capturing a share of independents and suburban women turned off by Trump’s tumultuous first term. It’s a dilemma they will confront in 2018 and beyond.

“If we lose the governor’s race for the first time in 20 years, all of a sudden President Trump’s chances of winning in 2020 diminish with a Democratic governor,” Cardenas said. “You can’t win a presidential election if you’re a Republican without winning Florida.”

Trump aides argue no one energizes Republicans like the president, pointing to the throngs of thousands who wait in long lines to attend his rallies — he’s held 17 since taking office. The aides say the White House is taking a two-pronged approach, sending Trump to mobilize the base while other officials, such as his daughter Ivanka, can generate local headlines and help with voters who may not like the president’s aggressive style. The goal is to ensure that the occasional voters who turned out for Trump in 2016 cast ballots in the midterms.

​Worrisome signs

But there are some signs that Trump’s unpopularity with the general electorate may hamper more than help individual Republican candidates.

While Republicans have won a series of special elections since Trump took office, they’ve captured smaller margins than in previous years.

The GOP is worried about a special congressional election Tuesday in a central Ohio district that Trump won by 11 percentage points in 2016. A Monmouth University poll released this week showed the race tightening, leaving Republican Troy Balderson with a 1-point edge. The survey found 46 percent of likely voters approved of Trump, while 49 percent disapproved.

Hoping to shore up GOP support, Trump is hosting a rally in the district Saturday night. His visit follows a Monday stop by Vice President Mike Pence.

The president’s team keeps a close eye on data assessing whether Americans believe the country is headed in the right direction under Trump. And they point to Trump’s strength among Republican voters and an upbeat attitude about the nation’s economic climate as evidence Republicans will avoid the rough midterm elections that have afflicted previous administrations.

But some Republicans warn Trump’s outsized media presence drowns out the messages of congressional candidates, who believe the path to victory lies with a focus on local issues, the Republican tax cuts and the prospect of Nancy Pelosi becoming House speaker again. In Ohio, Balderson and his GOP allies have tried to tie Democrat Danny O’Connor to Pelosi. O’Connor has repeatedly said he would like to see a new generation of leadership in the House.

“Part of the reason why the Nancy Pelosi attacks are so important is that they’re a way to motivate the Republicans who might not love Trump,” said Ohio GOP strategist Terry Casey.

Democrats energized

Still, Republicans are often forced to fend off questions about Trump-sparked controversies. In recent days, Trump publicly mused about a government shutdown sometime in the fall — a possibility that Republican congressional leaders fear would significantly hamper their electoral prospects.

In Pennsylvania on Thursday, Trump said he was “little bit torn” about whether it would be better to shut down the government before or after the midterm elections to secure funding for his border wall. 

“Whether it’s before or after, we are getting it or we are closing down government,” he told thousands of supporters at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

That kind of uncertainty only serves to further embolden Trump’s opposition, say Democrats.

“Clearly he lights the fire when it comes to energized Democrats,” said Ohio Democratic party chairman David Pepper. “He’s going to come and give a rambling, over-the-top speech that has nothing to do with this district or Troy Balderson. It may hurt more than it helps.”

The president’s decision to intervene in recent GOP primaries is also raising concerns among some state party officials and politicians, who fear he’s siding with candidates who could prove weaker in general elections. Trump has relished doling out endorsements, sometimes blasting out several a day, even for those who don’t need his backing right now.

On Thursday, he tweeted support for Rep. Steve Stivers, an Ohio congressman who chairs the campaign committee for the House GOP, urging people to back him in a primary contest next week. Stivers’ primary was held in May and he ran unopposed. The tweet was quickly deleted.

​Winning streak

The president has compiled a winning streak in recent primaries in which he has endorsed, helping favored candidates in South Carolina, Alabama and Georgia.

His rally this week in Tampa, Florida, represented his most ambitious attempt to nationalize two races crucial to Republicans’ midterm hopes.

Trump stood onstage with Rep. Ron DeSantis, a 39-year-old three-term congressman, imploring his supporters to back his campaign for governor. DeSantis was little-known to Republican voters until Trump first tweeted support for him in December. Since then, he’s made his ties to Trump a centerpiece of his primary race, focused on Fox News appearances and ads. In recent weeks, he’s opened up a double-digit lead against state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, a longtime fixture in Florida politics.

DeSantis said he was grateful for Trump’s support but added, “I appreciate more the leadership you’re showing for our great country.”

The president also repeatedly praised Gov. Rick Scott, a Trump ally running for Senate, and attacked his opponent, Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. Trump, who spends winter weekends at his estate in Palm Beach, claimed the only time he sees the senator is “five months before every election.”

“After a while, you forget who’s the senator,” Trump said.
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Manafort Trial Concludes Active First Week 

Posted on by SeeUS

The first week of Paul Manafort’s trial ended Friday, with prosecutors calling a bevy of witnesses to testify about the former Trump campaign chairman’s alleged financial crimes. 

Manafort, 69, is accused of filing false tax returns, failing to disclose foreign bank accounts to U.S. authorities, and obtaining fraudulent bank loans after his earnings dried up from his political consultancy business for pro-Russia politicians. 

The trial is the first to arise from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election and whether Donald Trump’s campaign colluded with Moscow. 

Manafort’s former business partner, Rick Gates, who was indicted along with Manafort, has pleaded guilty and has become a cooperating witness. Manafort’s lawyers, through their opening statement and cross-examination of witnesses, sought to pin the blame on Gates.

Here are highlights from the first four days of the trial:

Day 1: The trial started with the selection of a jury of six men and six women pulled from a pool of several dozen randomly summoned citizens. Manafort’s fate rests in their hands.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers then delivered their opening statements to the jury, laying out their sides of the story.

Prosecutor Uzo Asonye said Manafort committed tax and bank fraud, believing “the law did not apply to him.”

Manafort’s lawyers responded by blaming the crimes on Gates. “We’re primarily here because of one man. That man is Rick Gates,” defense lawyer Thomas Zehnle said in his opening statement.

The day featured testimony from the prosecution’s first witness, Tad Devine, a Democratic political consultant who worked with Manafort on campaigns in Ukraine. His testimony was aimed at demonstrating that Manafort worked for the Party of Regions and its leader, former Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.

Day 2: The second day of the trial was focused on Manafort’s lavish lifestyle, with testimonies aimed at showing his taste for luxury and establishing his need for money and motive to commit fraud.

Several vendors, including a high-end New York men’s clothier, a landscaper and a home technology executive, testified how Manafort spent millions of dollars on luxury goods and services, almost always paying with wire transfers from foreign accounts.

Admonished by the judge on Tuesday that “it isn’t a crime to make a lot of money and be profligate in your spending,” prosecutor Asonye said that while it isn’t “a crime to have a lot of money,” it is a crime to not pay taxes.

Asonye made a stir on Wednesday by suggesting Gates might not be asked to take the stand. But prosecutors later put the speculation to rest, saying they had “every intention” of calling Gates to testify.

Day 3: The prosecution’s focus shifted on the third day of the trial from Manafort’s extravagant lifestyle to his financial history, and how he kept his bookkeepers and tax preparers in the dark about his overseas accounts.

Longtime Manafort bookkeeper Heather Washkuhn took the stand, testifying that she did not know about Manafort’s foreign bank accounts and relied on him for determining whether to report something as income or a loan. Contradicting the defense’s argument that Manafort was too busy to be involved in his finances, she said Manafort “approved every penny of everything we paid.”

Day 4: Accountants Philip Ayliff and Cindy Laporte, who prepared Manafort’s tax returns for several years, testified that they had no knowledge that Manafort controlled foreign corporate entities and bank accounts. They told the jury they asked Manafort every year about his foreign holdings and he told them he had none.

Laporte testified that she changed Manafort’s tax return in 2014 to lower his taxes by as much as $500,000 and two years later helped him falsify documents in order to get bank loans.

Like several other witnesses, Laporte has been given immunity from prosecution in exchange for her testimony.

Defense lawyer Kevin Downing questioned the prosecution’s claim that Manafort willfully hid his foreign accounts from his financial advisers, saying the firm kept documents containing details about them. “Only a fool would give that information to his accountant if he was trying to conceal it” from the Internal Revenue Service, Downing said.

The trial resumes on Monday afternoon with the cross-examination of Laporte by defense lawyers.
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Unresolved Eritrea-Djibouti Tensions Threaten Regional Peace

Posted on by SeeAF

When Eritrea and Ethiopia agreed last month to end their decades-long conflict, the international community responded enthusiastically.

Less than a day after the countries signed a joint declaration of peace, United Nations Secretary General António Guterres suggested that sanctions against Eritrea, imposed for alleged support of al-Shabab, an extremist group based in Somalia, may soon be lifted.

That action would further undo Eritrea’s isolation.

But lingering grievances with its neighbor, Djibouti, could complicate regional integration, experts say.

Escalating tension

Eritrea’s push to forge regional ties moved forward last week when President Isaias Afwerki invited Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed to the capital, Asmara, in a striking show of high-level diplomacy after more than a decade of frayed relations.

But rapprochement with one neighbor heightened tensions with another.

During the visit, Mohamed voiced his country’s support for lifting U.N. sanctions against Eritrea, a gesture that drew ire from both Djibouti and opposition groups within Somalia.

Sanctions were imposed in 2009, not only over concerns about Eritrea’s role in Somalia, but also its dealings with Djibouti.

Last November, the U.N. recommended dropping inquiries into connections in Somalia after failing to find evidence of links to al-Shabab. But it reiterated concerns about Eritrea’s border with Djibouti and its unwillingness to seek a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

That’s prompted Djibouti, which contributes troops to the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia, to demand mediation.

But other factors may be fueling its grievances.

Some experts on the region believe that a rekindled relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea leaves Djibouti out in the cold.

Ulterior motives?

Kelsey Lilley is the former associate director for the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center. She told VOA that Djibouti’s response to the possible lifting of sanctions reflects deeper concerns.

“The fear of U.N. sanctions being lifted on Eritrea points to the really sticky situation that Djibouti is in overall, which is that, as Eritrea opens, what happens to its business model,” Lilley said.

Djibouti has spent recent years investing in large-scale infrastructure projects: a port, a railway, a water pipeline and, most recently, a free-trade zone.

The deals for these projects, funded and built by China, were inked when Djibouti provided Ethiopia’s sole access to the sea. With discussions already underway for Ethiopia, the region’s economic powerhouse, to utilize Eritrean ports, Djibouti’s unique value may be diminished, and that puts it in a precarious economic position, Lilley said.

Djibouti has taken on massive debt to build its infrastructure, and most projects promise to pay dividends, but only after many years.

Diplomatic impasse

In an open letter to the U.N. Security Council on July 30, Mohamed Siad Doualeh, Djibouti’s ambassador to the United Nations, said, “[T]here is no escaping the fact that the international boundary remains disputed, Eritrea continues to occupy Djiboutian territory, prisoners of war remain unaccounted for, threat of force continue to emanate from the Eritrean side, and the risk of violent confrontation remains high.”

In a series of tweets, Nebil Said, Eritrea’s counselor to its Permanent Mission to the United Nations, refuted Djibouti’s claims. Said stated that Eritrea had released all Djiboutian prisoners of war in 2016 and had never occupied Djiboutian territory. The burden of proof to substantiate accusations of wrongdoing, he added, lies with Djibouti, not Eritrea.

Doualeh’s concerns have been validated, at least in part, by the U.N.’s Somalia-Eritrea Monitoring Group. In its most recent report, published in 2017, the Monitoring Group concluded that Eritrea was continuing to support the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy, an armed group intent on destabilizing Djibouti.

But the truth behind other claims remains obscure.

Last year, U.N. investigators said they saw evidence of Eritrean troop movement near disputed land, but only on their own side of the border. And claims about the number of POWs still captive in Eritrea have not been verified following prisoners who escaped, were released, or have died.

Conflicting claims have led to an impasse, and Eritrea has, so far, not shown a willingness to negotiate.

Political stability

Threats to Djibouti’s economy could also jeopardize political stability in the country, Lilley said. That stability has helped the current government maintain its grip on power, but it hasn’t necessarily translated into benefits for everyday people.

Djibouti has a high poverty rate, and the political opposition says they’re locked out of the process.

“I think the regime could lose here, but I think the Djiboutians are really already losing,” Lilley said.

For things to improve, the government would have to rethink how it uses the money that comes in through sources like multi-year leases to rent space for military bases, a source of significant revenue for the country.

It may also have to re-approach its relationships with international partners. Tighter regional integration could mean the possibility of military bases in Eritrea, giving nations interested in a presence in Africa’s Horn more options.

That could prompt countries to scrutinize their partnerships with Djibouti, Lilley said, and consider better deals elsewhere.

Djibouti has been backed into a corner, according to Lilley, but its best strategy is to avoid being a spoiler for the peace process unfolding.

“Peace between Ethiopia and Eritrea should be good for the entire region, should be good for all of East Africa, should be good for the world,” Lilley said.
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Israel Seizes Swedish Activist Ship Bound for Gaza Strip

Posted on by SeeEU

Israel’s navy Saturday seized a Swedish-flagged sailboat carrying activist passengers that was trying to breach the long-standing blockade of the Palestinian Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military said the vessel, named “Freedom for Gaza,” was “intercepted in accordance with international law.”

The 12 passengers, from Sweden, Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Spain, are in custody and will be flown home, an Israeli Immigration Authority spokeswoman said.

The organizer of the trip, the Swedish group Ship to Gaza, said the boat was carrying mainly medical supplies and maintained it was wrongly intercepted in international waters.  

“The demands of the Ship to Gaza are that the ship with its crew and cargo … be allowed to go in peace through international and Palestinian waters in accordance with international law,” it said in a statement. “This is a demand that the 11 years-long illegal and destructive blockade on Gaza will be lifted at last.”

Israel’s military said the boat violated the “legal naval blockade” and that “any humanitarian merchandise can be transferred to Gaza through the Port of Ashdod.”

The vessel Freedom for Gaza was the second vessel of the “Freedom Flotilla” to be seized as it tried to “break the blockade” on Gaza, organizers said.

Earlier this week the Israeli navy intercepted a Norwegian-flagged activist boat, one of four that left Scandinavia in mid-May.

Israel contends the the blockade is necessary to keep Palestinian militants from getting weapons or other materials that could be used for military purposes.

Israel and Palestinian militants have fought three wars since 2008 in Gaza, an economically disadvantaged 365 square kilometer territory where more than two million Palestinians reside.

United Nations officials have called for the lifting of the blockade, citing worsening humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian enclave.
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Pompeo: Despite Tensions, Turkey Remains a Key US Ally

Posted on by SeeEU

Despite a sharp deterioration in relations over the detention of an American pastor, the United States and Turkey remain valued partners, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday, in an apparent bid to ease tensions that have rocked ties between the NATO allies.

Pompeo told reporters on the sidelines of an Asian security forum in Singapore that the two countries would continue to work with each other in the framework of the alliance and on other matters.

“Turkey is a NATO partner with whom the United States has every intention of continuing to work cooperatively,” Pompeo said.

Earlier this week, the Trump administration took the rare, if not unprecedented, step of hitting two senior Turkish officials with sanctions over the case of Pastor Andrew Brunson, who remains in detention despite repeated demands from President Donald Trump for his release. Pompeo met on Friday with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to discuss the matter behind closed doors and said those talks had been “constructive.”

“I made clear that it is well past time that Pastor Brunson be freed and be permitted to return to the United States,” he said, adding that several detained local State Department employees should also be released. “I am hopeful that in the coming days we will see that occur,” Pompeo said.

He acknowledged “lots of challenges” with Turkey, but said Washington and Ankara had been able to work closely and well together. They have been at odds over numerous matters, including military activity in northern Syria and Turkey’s plans to purchase an advanced air defense system from Russia.

Speaking to Turkish journalists after his meeting with Pompeo, Cavusoglu also described their discussion as “extremely constructive” and said the two would continue to work toward resolving disputes. But he said threats would not work. “We repeated to them that nothing can be achieved through threatening language and sanctions and we believe that this was well understood,” he said.

Brunson, 50, is being tried on espionage and terror-related charges, which he and the U.S. government vehemently deny. He was arrested in December 2016 following a failed coup on charges of “committing crimes on behalf of terror groups without being a member” and espionage. Although he was released to home detention, he faces a prison sentence of up to 35 years if he is convicted on both counts at the end of his ongoing trial. The evangelical pastor, who is originally from Black Mountain, North Carolina, has lived in Turkey for 23 years and led the Izmir Resurrection Church.

Last week, President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence threatened to impose sanctions on Turkey if Brunson was not immediately released. They said his recent transfer from prison to house arrest was not enough and on Wednesday, the Treasury Department hit Turkey’s Justice Minister, Abdulhamit Gul, and Interior Minister, Suleyman Soylu, with sanctions that block any assets they may have in U.S. jurisdictions and bar Americans from doing business with them..

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has rejected the U.S. demands, saying his government won’t back down and is willing to “go its own way” if the U.S. acted. The Turks have also vowed to retaliate for the sanctions “without delay.”

The Turkish leader has previously connected Brunson’s return to the U.S. to the extradition of Fethullah Gulen, an exiled Turkish cleric who lives in Pennsylvania. Ankara blames Gulen for the coup attempt, while the cleric denies involvement.

 
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