January 2019 - Page 12 of 19

Top Trump Senate Ally Urges President to Reopen Shutdown Government

Posted on 01/14/2019 by SeeUS

U.S. President Donald Trump is standing by his demand for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border, as Democrats refuse to support what they call an expensive and ineffective measure while a partial government shutdown over the standoff hits its 24th day Monday.

Late Sunday, Trump issued a series of tweets quoting an editorial by conservative commentator Pat Buchanan in which Buchanan called for Trump to use executive authority to declare a national emergency to get the money he wants for wall construction.

Trump finished with his own comment: “The great people of our Country demand proper Border Security NOW!”

Earlier Sunday, one of Trump’s closest allies in the U.S. Senate urged him to at least temporarily reopen the shuttered federal government and negotiate with Democrats.

South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham told Fox News Sunday he would still support a presidential emergency declaration after giving talks another chance.

“I would urge him to open up the government for a short period of time, like three weeks, before he pulls the plug, see if we can get a deal. If we can’t at the end of three weeks, all bets are off,” Graham said.

Graham echoed Trump by blaming the three-week long government shutdown on Democrats — specifically House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who joked she would give Trump money for a border wall — $1.

”How do you negotiate with the speaker of the house when she tells you even if you open up the government, we are not going to give you but $1 for the wall? So until that changes, there’s not much left except the national emergency approach,” Graham said on Fox.

Declaring a national emergency along the U.S.-Mexican border would allow Trump to spend the $5 billion he wants for a wall without congressional approval — a move Democrats would immediately challenge in court.

Most Democrats say they agree on the need for border security, but say there is no national security crisis and believe a wall would be an impractical waste of money.

“I do think if we reopen the government, if the president ends this shutdown crisis, we have folks who can negotiate a responsible, modern investment in technology that will actually make us safer,” Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware said on Fox.

Coons blames the impasse on border wall funding that led to the shutdown on Trump. He said the president had accepted a border security package that included money for a wall, then changed his mind.

“The only crisis here is one that’s been created by the president’s abrupt change in position at the end of last year in the last days of a Republican-controlled Congress,” Coons said. He added that Trump should test the Democrats’ willingness to compromise by making the concessions he is willing to make clear to everyone.

Trump insists building a wall along the border will bring down the nation’s crime rate. He says illegal drugs are pouring into the United States from Mexico, even though security experts say most come through legal ports of entry.

Trump chided 30 congressional Democrats for heading to a Hispanic Caucus retreat in Puerto Rico to watch a charity performance of the smash Broadway show “Hamilton.”

Trump mocked them for “having fun” while he remains in snowy Washington.

But the lawmakers reportedly bought their own tickets to the show. They will also meet Puerto Rican officials on the recovery from Hurricane Maria — the powerful storm that devastated the island in 2017. They have also brought donated medical supplies.

Meanwhile, 800,000 federal employees are either furloughed or working without pay.

Congress says all affected federal workers will get back pay as soon as the shutdown is over, but that brings little assurance to those who have immediate expenses or little or no savings in case of an emergency.

While the Trump has said he “can relate” to their loss of income, he says a broken border is more damaging than a government shutdown.
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Pompeo: Saudi Leaders Committed to Accountability in Khashoggi Killing

Posted on 01/14/2019 by SeeEA

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Saudi King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman acknowledge “accountability needs to take place” in the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Pompeo spoke Monday after meeting with the Saudi leaders in Riyadh.

The top U.S. diplomat said both the king and crown prince “reiterated their commitment” to hold responsible those who killed Khashoggi after he went to the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in October.

Initially Saudi Arabia said he safely left the site on his own, but later admitted he was killed there in what Saudi officials called a rogue operation.

Turkey said the order to kill the Washington Post journalist came from the highest levels of the Saudi government but Saudi officials maintain it was not ordered by the Saudi crown prince.

In December, the U.S. Senate rebuked Saudi Arabia, blaming the crown prince for Khashoggi’s killing and calling for an end to U.S. support for the Saudi-led coalition fighting in Yemen.

Pompeo and Mohammed bin Salman agreed Monday on the need to continue de-escalation in Yemen, including a cease-fire in the key port city of Hodeida.

The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia tweeted images showing the Pompeo and the crown prince together and said, “A comprehensive political solution is the only way to end the conflict.”

Since 2015, Saudi Arabia has been leading a coalition conducting airstrikes and other military efforts in support of Yemen’s government in its fight against Houthi rebels who took control of the capital and many other areas.

The United States has provided its support to the Saudi-led campaign, including aerial refueling and logistical support.

WATCH: Pompeo in Middle East

Pompeo is near the end of a trip to the Middle East in which he has been seeking to reassure allies about the pullout of U.S. troops from Syria and to seek support for U.S. efforts to get Iran to change what the Trump administration calls its malign behavior.

From Saudi Arabia Pompeo is traveling to Oman on Monday, but then cutting short the rest of his trip due to a family funeral. A spokesman said he would go to Kuwait at a later date.
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Pompeo: US will Continue to Seek Accountability for Khashoggi Murder

Posted on 01/14/2019 by SeeUS

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is meeting Monday in Riyadh with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Saudi Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, after urging other Saudi officials to continue a proper investigation into the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Those topics were on the agenda Sunday during an hour-long meeting Pompeo had with Saudi Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir.

The State Department said Sunday they agreed about the need “for continued regional efforts to stand against the Iran regime’s malign activity,” and also talked about the situations in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon, Libya and Afghanistan.

On Khashoggi, Pompeo stressed the need for a probe that holds responsible those accountable.

Khashoggi was killed when he visited the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey in October. Initially Saudi Arabia said he safely left the site on his own, but later admitted he was killed there in what Saudi officials called a rogue operation.

Turkey said the order to kill the Washington Post journalist came from the highest levels of the Saudi government but Saudi officials maintain it was not ordered by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

“We will continue to have a conversation with the crown prince and the Saudis about ensuring the accountability is full and complete with respect to the unacceptable murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” Pompeo said earlier Sunday after a meeting in Doha with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

Pompeo flew to Riyadh after meetings in the Qatari capital of Doha, following stops in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates during a weeklong trip of the Middle East.

During the earlier joint press conference with al Thani, Pompeo also urged the Gulf countries to end a political rift in which Doha has been boycotted by neighboring former allies for months.

“President Trump and I both believe the ongoing dispute in the region has gone on too long,” Pompeo said.

The U.S., which appeared initially to support the boycott when it began in 2017, has since been unsuccessful in negotiating between Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). All six member states of the GCC (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) are U.S. allies.

“We’re hopeful that unity in the GCC will increase in the days and weeks and months ahead,” Pompeo said.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Egypt imposed sanctions on Qatar, accusing Doha of financing extremist groups and aligning with Iran, the Gulf Arab states’ rival. Qatar has denied the allegations.
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Detroit Auto Show, and Industry, Prepare for Transition

Posted on 01/14/2019 by SeeUS

The auto industry gathered in Detroit on Sunday, on the eve of the last winter edition of North America’s premiere auto show, as carmakers grapple with a contracting market and uncertainty in the year ahead.

Concerns over the health of the global economy and a US-China trade war loomed over the North American International Auto Show, as it prepared to open Monday with the first five days dedicated to the media and industry insiders. The show opens to the general public on January 19.

While a number of major announcements were expected — including an anticipated strategic alliance between Ford and Volkswagen — there will be fewer automakers and new car unveilings, making it more subdued.

“This is a transition year for the Detroit show,” said analyst Michelle Krebs of Autotrader. “It’s kind of emblematic of where the industry is. We’re in a transition in the industry.”

After a 10-year boom, analysts expect North American auto sales to contract in 2019, as consumers face pressures and carmakers grapple with multiple uncertainties.

Rising interest rates and car prices have squeezed car buyers, and fewer of them are able to afford increasingly pricey, technology-heavy cars.

Kelley Blue Book predicted the average new-car price was up about three percent in 2018 to more than $36,000.

Tariffs cause uncertainty –

Meanwhile, tariffs on imported steel and aluminum products and a potentially intensifying trade dispute between the Donald Trump administration and Beijing has automakers spooked, analysts said.

“Tariffs already had an impact in 2018,” said Cox Automotive chief analyst Jonathan Smoke, adding that 47 percent of the vehicles sold in the US in 2018 were imported.

“We believe about two percent of today’s prices are because of the tariffs that were already implemented.”

The US is considering additional tariffs of 25 percent. Should it announce such a move by the February 17 deadline, it could have a substantial impact on the industry and stock markets, Smoke said.

“We believe that they are likely to move forward with some form of that tariff, because it becomes then a lever for them to force… further negotiations.”

Should tariffs raise car prices further, analysts said it could substantially depress the new car market. Consumers would flock to relatively cheaper used cars, which are in ample supply.

A growing number of lightly-used, tech-heavy vehicles leased during the sales boom of the last few years are being returned to dealerships.

The auto dealers association, which organizes the show, also was contending with the uncertainty of the show’s very relevance. Almost all German carmakers abandoned the show this year, as more and more important announcements are made at other gatherings.

Next year, the Detroit show will move from January, when it has been held for some 40 years, to June.

Goodbye winter –

Organizers hope the summer weather will allow for outdoor events that allow attendees to try out the new cars and technologies on display.

“It’s run out of gas now,” said Krebs. “June could be a rebirth for the show.”

Among the few notable unveilings this year will be from Ford, which is expected to display a redesigned Explorer SUV and a more powerful version of its iconic Mustang sports car under the name Shelby GT500.

SUVs and trucks will once again be the highlight, a symptom of North American consumers’ shift away from sedans and small cars. Trucks and SUVs made up a majority of new purchases in the US last year.

“The SUVs have become cars with SUV bodies sitting on top of them,” said Karl Brauer of Kelly Blue Book.

Detroit’s big three automakers have been ending production of almost all of their sedans and small cars, succumbing to the pressure of falling demand.

To hedge against the threat of a global economic downturn, GM has announced plans to close underutilized US plants that made smaller, less profitable vehicles.

Ford planned similar cost-cutting moves in Europe.
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Trump Warns Turkey of Economic Devastation if It Attacks Kurds in Syria

Posted on 01/14/2019 by SeeEU

President Donald Trump is warning Turkey it would face economic devastation if it strikes at the Kurds when U.S. forces pull out of Syria.

“Likewise, do not want the Kurds to provoke Turkey,” Trump said in a tweet late Sunday. Without giving any further details, he wrote “Create 20 mile (32 kilometers) safe zone.”

“Russia, Iran, and Syria have been the biggest beneficiaries of the long-term U.S. policy of destroying ISIS in Syria — natural enemies,” he tweeted.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (YPG) were among the United States’ closest allies in the fight against Islamic State militants inside Syria.

Turkey says the YPG is tied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has been fighting a long guerrilla war for more Kurdish autonomy inside Turkey.

Turkey considers the PKK a terrorist group and there are fears Turkey will attack Kurdish fighters inside Syria when the Americans leave.

Ibrahim Kalin, a spokesman for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, responded to Trump Monday, comparing the YPG to Islamic State militants.

“Mr @realDonaldTrump Terrorists can’t be your partners & allies,” he wrote on Twitter. “Turkey expects the US to honor our strategic partnership and doesn’t want it to be shadowed by terrorist propaganda. There is no difference between DAESH, PKK, PYD and YPG. We will continue to fight against them all.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday he is “optimistic” the Syrian Kurds will not be abandoned and confident the U.S. and Turkey can work out a deal to assure the Kurds will be safe.

The Kurds are looking for protection against a possible Turkish attack and Syria’s Assistant Foreign Minister Ayman Sousan told reporters Sunday his government would like an intensified dialogue with the Kurds.

“Many of the Kurdish statements were positive regarding their concern for the unity of Syria,” he said.

Kurdish officials have said they would like Russian mediation in any talks with the Syrian government.

Trump tweeted Sunday that what he calls the “long overdue” U.S. pull-out from Syria has started “while hitting the little remaining ISIS territorial caliphate hard and from many directions.”

But a U.S. defense official has denied that it was withdrawing any troops from Syria, telling VOA the initial stages of the pull-out involve “equipment, not troops.”

Trump unexpectedly announced last month that U.S. forces would be leaving Syria, causing confusion and concern among U.S. allies. The White House hinted that a pull-out could be complete within 30 days.

National Security Advisor John Bolton has since said there is no time-frame for a withdrawal.

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Polish Mayor Stabbed at Charity Event, Condition Very Serious

Posted on 01/14/2019 by SeeEU

A man with a knife rushed on to the stage during the finale of a charity event and stabbed a Polish mayor in the abdomen Sunday, leaving the politician in very serious condition in an attack that Polish media said had a political element.

Gdansk Mayor Pawel Adamowicz grabbed his belly and collapsed on stage during the “Lights to Heaven” fundraiser organized by the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity, Poland’s most important charity.

Polish President Andrzej Duda said he was informed that “doctors succeeded in reanimating the heart of the seriously injured Mayor Pawel Adamowicz and there is hope, but his condition is very difficult.” He called for people to pray for the mayor.

Polish broadcaster TVN said the assailant shouted from the stage that he had been wrongly imprisoned under a previous national government led by Civic Platform, a party to which the mayor formerly belonged. The suspected attacker was arrested.

TVN broadcast footage of the perpetrator, just after the attack yelling that his name was Stefan and that “I was jailed but innocent. … Civic Platform tortured me.”

Police said the suspect was a 27-year-old with a criminal record and had carried out bank robberies. A police spokesman, Mariusz Ciarka, said the attacker gained access to the area with a media badge.

Radio Gdansk said Adamowicz was stabbed in the area of his heart, but did not cite its source, while Rzeczpospolita described the mayor’s condition as “critical,” citing unidentified sources. A spokesman for the hospital called his condition “very serious.”

TVN footage showed Adamowicz on stage just before the attack with a sparkler in hand telling the audience that it had been a “wonderful day” and then the attacker coming toward him. Adamowicz had been on the streets of his city Sunday collecting money for the charity, along with volunteers around the country.

European Council President Donald Tusk, a former Polish prime minister who co-founded Civil Platform and is from Gdansk, wrote on Twitter: “Let’s all pray for Mayor Adamowicz. Pawel, we are with you.”

The head of the charity, Jerzy Owsiak, is a liberal critic of Poland’s current right-wing government. He blamed what he described as an atmosphere of hate under the ruling Law and Justice party for the attack on the mayor.

Owsiak referred to being personally depicted in a defamatory manner in an animation that ran on state TV last week and that also had anti-Semitic overtones.

The animation showed Owsiak as a clay figure being manipulated by a leading Civic Platform official who seized piles of cash that he collected. A Star of David was on one of the banknotes. The broadcaster apologized after the animation triggered an outcry.

Adamowicz, 53, has been mayor of Gdansk, a Baltic port city, since 1998. He was part of the democratic opposition born in that city under the leadership of Lech Walesa during the 1980s. After leaving Civic Platform, he was re-elected to a sixth term as an independent candidate in the fall.

As mayor, he has been a progressive voice, supporting LGBT rights and tolerance for minorities. He marched in last year’s gay pride parade, a rare action for a mayor in Poland.

He also showed solidarity with the Jewish community when the city’s synagogue had its windows broken last year, strongly denouncing the vandalism.

“Horrified by the brutal attack on Gdansk mayor Pawel Adamowicz,” said Frans Timmermans, a Dutch politician and leading European Union official. “Hope and pray he will recover. A great leader of his city and a true humanitarian.”

The Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity raises money to buy state-of-the-art medical equipment for Poland’s cash-strapped hospitals, mostly for children.

The last attack on a politician in Poland was in 2010 in Lodz. A man shouting that he wanted to kill Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski fatally shot an aide to one of the party’s lawmakers to the European Parliament. A second man was stabbed and injured.

At the time Law and Justice was in the opposition and Kaczynski blamed the attack at an “atmosphere of hate” under the rival party, Civic Platform.

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France’s Macron Calls Fellow Citizens to National Debate

Posted on 01/14/2019 by SeeEU

French President Emmanuel Macron has released what he calls a “letter to the French,” encouraging a national debate on issues that have led to two months of anti-government protests.

“This is how I intend to turn anger into solutions,” Macron said Sunday. “Your proposals will help build a new contract for the nation, organizing the actions of the government and parliament, but also France’s positions at the European and international levels.”

Macron plans to hold a number of town hall meetings across the country over the next eight weeks.

Among the questions he is opening for debate are which taxes should be cut, what public spending should be a priority, are there too many bureaucratic layers, and questions surrounding the environment and immigration.

While Macron said no topic will be off the table, the right of people to seek asylum in France will not be up for debate.

“We won’t agree on everything, which is normal in a democracy. But at least we’ll show we’re a people which is not afraid of talking, exchanging [ideas], debating.”

So-called “yellow vest” marches erupted in France in November against a now-scrapped fuel tax. But they have since expanded into a general anti-government protest, especially in rural France, where many see Macron as someone more interested in the wealthy than their problems.

Some of the marches have turned violent, leading to government proposals to ban anyone wearing face masks from joining in or starting their own march.

The free speech group Reporters Without Borders has called on protest organizers to condemn violence against journalists covering the marches.

The group says reporters have been beaten, kicked, and threatened with rape.

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Regional Bloc Urges Vote Recount in DRC Poll

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeAF

A southern African regional bloc urged officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo Sunday to recount the votes of its recent contested presidential election.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) called for a unity government in a statement issued by Zambian President Edgar Lungu, citing examples of similar deals struck in Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Opposition candidate Felix Tshisekedi was declared the winner of elections Sunday, but runner-up Martin Fayulu has challenged the outcome of the country’s election in court, claiming that his opponent made a deal with outgoing president Joseph Kabila.

Fayulu’s opposition coalition said Friday he captured 61 percent of the vote, citing figures from the Catholic Church, which placed 40,000 election observers across the Central African country. The coalition said Tshisekedi won 18 percent of the vote. By law, only the electoral commission can announce election results in Congo.

Fayulu, who has members of the Republican Guard deployed outside his home, called for a manual recount of the election.

Pre-election polls indicated that Fayulu was the favorite to replace outgoing President Joseph Kabila. Kabila backed another candidate, his former interior minister, Emmanuel Shadary.

Congo has never seen a peaceful transfer of power since winning independence from Belgium in 1960.

Last week’s election was originally scheduled for 2016 but was delayed as Kabila stayed in office past the end of his mandate, sparking protests that were crushed by security forces, leaving dozens dead.

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Congo Runner-up: Country’s Ruling Party is Desperate

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeAF

Congo’s presidential runner-up Martin Fayulu, who is challenging his election loss in court, says the government deployed armed soldiers around his headquarters because of the ruling party’s “desperation.”

Fayulu is legally challenging his defeat, saying that he won 61 percent of the vote, citing figures compiled by the Catholic Church’s 40,000 election observers across the vast Central African country. Those figures say that election winner Felix Tshieskedi only received 18 percent of the vote.

As Fayulu was preparing to file his legal challenge at the constitutional court Saturday, the Republican Guard surrounded his offices, dispersed supporters from the premises and briefly entered the property, according to witnesses.

Fayulu spoke to the press Sunday after attending mass at the Philadelphie missionary center in Kinshasa and was asked about the incident with the Republican Guard.

“I’m attributing this to desperation. But we have faith,” said Fayulu. “Our faith is intact, unshakeable, because the people have decided, and the wishes of the people will come true.”

Tshisekedi was expected to attend a service in the same church later Sunday but he cancelled for “security reasons,” according to a church press officer. Several journalists were waiting for him as Tshisekedi has made no public appearances since the announcements by Fayulu and the Catholic Church that the figures giving him victory are not accurate.

“Felix Tsishekedi spoke the day the results were announced. At this stage he has nothing to add,” said press officer Lydie Omenga on Sunday. “He has already started work and now waits for the results to be confirmed. We are serene and we let the process follow its course. He will speak at his inauguration.”

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Nuclear Chief Says Iran Exploring New Uranium Enrichment

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeEA

The head of Iran’s nuclear program said the Islamic Republic has begun “preliminary activities for designing” a modern process for 20-percent uranium enrichment for its 50-year-old research reactor in Tehran, signaling new danger for the nuclear deal.

The comment on state television Sunday from Ali Akbar Salehi increases the pressure on the international community as 20-percent enrichment would mean Iran has abandoned the terms of the 2015 atomic accord.

President Donald Trump already pulled America out of the accord in May and resumed sanctions on Tehran. So far, United Nations inspectors say Iran continues to comply with the deal’s terms, which limits enrichment to 3.5 percent.

Salehi said “we are at the verge” of being ready, without elaborating in his remarks.

The U.S. donated the reactor to Iran in 1967.
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Pompeo: US to Seek Accountability for Khashoggi Murder

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeEA

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Sunday the U.S. will ask the Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman to make sure those who murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi are held accountable for their crime.

“We will continue to have a conversation with the crown prince and the Saudis about ensuring the accountability is full and complete with respect to the unacceptable murder of Jamal Khashoggi,” Pompeo said Sunday after a meeting in Doha with Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al- Thani.

Turkey said the order to kill the Washington Post journalist came from the highest levels of the Saudi government but Saudi officials maintain it was not ordered by the Saudi crown prince.

Pompeo flew to Riyadh after meetings in the Qatari capital of Doha, following stops in Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates during a weeklong trip of the Middle East.

During the joint press conference with al-Thani, Pompeo urged the gulf countries to end a political rift in which Doha has been boycotted by neighboring former allies for months.

“President Trump and I both believe the ongoing dispute in the region has gone on too long,” Pompeo said.

The U.S., which appeared initially to support the boycott when it began in 2017, has since been unsuccessful in negotiating between Qatar and the Gulf Cooperation council (GCC). All six member states of the GCC (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) are United States allies.

“We’re hopeful that unity in the GCC will increase in the days and weeks and months ahead,” Pompeo said.

Nike Ching contributed to this report.

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Hundreds Rally in Sudan’s Capital for Al-Bashir’s Ouster

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeAF

Hundreds of protesters marched in and around Sudan’s capital Khartoum on Sunday, the fourth week of unrest that began over skyrocketing prices and a failing economy but which now calls for the ouster of autocratic President Omar al-Bashir.

Images circulated by activists online showed marches taking place in Khartoum and its northern twin cities of Omdurman and Bahary, despite security forces firing tear gas at the crowds. One group, hundreds strong, appeared to have reached Bahary’s main train station.

Security forces encircled the area and fired in the air to disperse crowds around the station, the main rally point for a gathering called by protest groups, professional associations and political opposition. Shops in the area have been almost entirely shuttered, eyewitnesses said, and crowds continued to gather.

Protesters burnt tires to obscure the view of policemen chasing them down, in a cat-and-mouse game that lasted until after dark. Witnesses said security forces were breaking into local homes and businesses in pursuit of demonstrators taking refuge there.

“The people want the fall of the regime,” chanted a crowd in the area, as seen in one video, echoing a popular slogan of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings that briefly defied despotism in the region, but never made it to Sudan.

Demonstrations also took place in other cities across the country, particularly in Gadarif, Faw and Amri, as well in the western region of Darfur, activists said, with eyewitnesses adding that police had broken up a 1,000-person strong demonstration in the northern Darfur town of el-Fasher.

The eyewitnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

They said that security forces had surrounded the Haj al-Safi hospital in Khartoum, while a doctors’ union warned them against attacking or firing tear gas near or inside hospitals as had been reported last week by Amnesty International.

Sudan’s economy has stagnated for most of al-Bashir’s rule, but its recent lows have been dramatic, prompting the protests. He has also failed to unite or keep the peace in the religiously and ethnically diverse nation, losing three quarters of Sudan’s oil wealth when the mainly animist and Christian south seceded in 2011 following a referendum.

Bashir is also wanted by the International Criminal Court for genocide in Darfur.

An Islamist who has been in power since he led a military coup in 1989, he has said those seeking to oust him can only do so through elections, and he is running for another term in office next year. He has insisted that the protests are part of a foreign plot to undermine Sudan’s “Islamic experiment” and blamed the country’s worsening economic crisis on international sanctions.

Already among the longest serving leaders in the region, al-Bashir hopes to win another term in office. In a bid to placate popular anger over his economic policies, he has promised higher wages, continuing state subsidies on basic goods and more benefits for pensioners.

His promises have been dismissed by critics as untenable.

Also Sunday, the government raised its official death toll from the weeks of protest by five to 24, still undercutting numbers released by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, who say at least 40 have been killed.

Sudan’s General Prosecutor said nine of those killed were in Gadaref, a province southeast of Khartoum close to the Ethiopian and Eritrean borders. The rest were killed in Omdurman and regions north and northeast of the capital.

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Italy Sends Plane to Bolivia to Get Seized Fugitive Battisti

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeEU

Italy sent an aircraft to Bolivia on Sunday to pick up fugitive left-wing militant Cesare Battisti who was captured there nearly three decades after being convicted of murder. The development sets the stage for a climax to one of Italy’s longest-running efforts to bring a fugitive to justice.

Bolivian police, working with Italian agents, arrested Battisti, 64, overnight in Santa Cruz de La Sierra, Italian police said. He had been living in Brazil for years, but last month Brazil’s outgoing president signed a decree ordering his extradition, apparently sparking Battisti’s latest flight.

Italian police released a video of Battisti they said was taken hours before his capture, showing him seemingly oblivious that he was under surveillance as he walked casually down the street in jeans, a blue T-shirt and sunglasses. A subsequent image showed Battisti’s mug shot under the seal of the Bolivian police.

Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte said a government aircraft was expected to land Sunday afternoon in Bolivia. The Foreign Ministry vowed to have Battisti extradited “as quickly as possible” and Interior Minister Matteo Salvini called him a “delinquent who doesn’t deserve to live comfortably on the beach but rather to finish his days in prison.”

Battisti escaped from an Italian prison in 1981 while awaiting trial on four counts of murder allegedly committed when he was a member of the Armed Proletarians for Communism. He was convicted in absentia in 1990, and is facing a life term for the deaths of two police officers, a jeweler and a butcher.

Battisti has acknowledged membership in the group but has denied killing anyone and has painted himself as a political refugee.

Battisti initially fled to France, where he joined a group of dozens of left-wing Italian militants who enjoyed official protection from France’s Socialist government. Like Battisti, they had fled during Italy’s “years of lead,” a bloody and turbulent era in the 1970s and 1980s when militants on the left and right carried out bombings, assassinations and other violence aimed at bringing down the Italian government.

After the political winds changed in France, Battisti fled to Mexico before escaping to Brazil to avoid being extradited. He was arrested in Rio de Janeiro in 2007, prompting the Italian government to request that he be handed over. But former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva granted him asylum in 2010.

Battisti was eventually released from jail but was arrested again in 2017 after he was caught trying to cross the Brazil-Bolivia border carrying the equivalent of about $7,500 in undeclared cash. He was released after a few days.

As a result of that incident, Brazilian Supreme Federal Tribunal Justice Luiz Fux said in December that Interpol had issued a request for Battisti’s arrest on tax evasion and money laundering charges, leading him to issue a Brazilian warrant. Based on that, outgoing Brazilian President Michel Temer signed the decree ordering the fugitive’s extradition.

Salvini praised Bolivian police and Brazil’s new government for following through on the fugitive’s case.

President Sergio Mattarella said Battisti should be returned to Italy to “serve his sentence for the grave crimes that stained Italy and let the same be said for all fugitives abroad.”
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Saudi Energy Minister Concerned About Oil Price Volatility

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeEA

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said Sunday that major oil producers need to do better to narrow swings in prices that dip below $60 a barrel and rise above $86.

“I think what we need to do is narrow the range… of volatility,” Khalid al-Falih said.

“We need to do better and the more producers that work with us, the better we’re able” to do so, he told the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi.

Cautious not to set a price target or range, he explained there are consequences when oil prices dip too low or rise too high.

Last month, OPEC countries, including Saudi Arabia, and other major oil producers agreed to cut production by 1.2 million barrels a day to reduce oversupply and boost prices for the first six months of 2019.

Oil producers are under pressure to reduce production following a sharp fall in oil prices in recent months because major producers — including the United States — are pumping oil at high rates.

Brent crude, the international standard, traded at $60.48 a barrel in London on Friday. Benchmark U.S. crude stood at $51.59 a barrel in New York.

Analysts say the kingdom needs oil between $75 and $80 a barrel to balance its budget, with spending for this year to reach a record high of $295 billion.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the forum, al-Falih said that despite continued concerns over the volatility in price seen in the fourth quarter of 2018, he is hopeful it can be brought under control.

“I think early signs this year are positive,” he said.

Last week, Saudi Arabia announced it has 268.5 billion barrels of proven crude oil reserves, a figure 2.2 billion barrels higher than previously known. The kingdom’s Energy Ministry also revised upward the country’s gas reserves by around 10 percent, to 325.1 trillion standard cubic feet as of the end of 2017.

The kingdom’s oil reserves are among the cheapest in the world to recover at around $4 per barrel.

Al-Falih said the revision, conducted as an independent audit by consultants DeGolyer and MacNaughton, points to why the kingdom believes state-owned oil giant Saudi Aramco “is indeed the world’s most valuable company.”

He said plans for an initial public offering of shares in Aramco in 2021 remain on track.

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Greek Defense Minister Resigns over Macedonia Name Change

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeEU

Greece’s conservative defense minister, who leads the junior partner in the country’s coalition government, resigned Sunday over the Macedonia name deal, which he opposes.

Panos Kammenos announced his resignation after meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Sunday morning. He said his party is quitting the government.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said, in response, that he will ask for a vote of confidence in Parliament in the coming week. He added he had a “frank discussion” with Kammenos, whom he thanked for his government partnership.

Tsipras also announced that Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will replace Kammenos as defense minister.

Greece and Macedonia agreed last June to a deal that would change the name of Greece’s northern neighbor to North Macedonia. In exchange, Greece would lift its objections to the country joining NATO.

Macedonia’s parliament ratified the deal on Friday and the Greek parliament now needs a majority for its ratification.

Tsipras’ left-wing Syriza party has 145 deputies in the 300-member Greek Parliament, while Kammenos’ right-populist Independent Greeks party has seven. With the departure of his coalition partner, Tsipras would need opposition help to pass the Macedonia name deal.
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Pompeo Applauds Qatar’s Assistance While on Mideast Tour

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeUS

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in Qatar, a nation targeted by a four American allies in the Mideast.

Pompeo arrived on Sunday and signed several agreements with Qatari officials.

America’s top diplomat thanked Qatar for hosting U.S. forces at al-Udeid Air Base, home to the U.S. military’s Central Command forward headquarters.

Pompeo described the two countries’ relationship as “extensive, important and growing.”

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al- Thani also said his country’s relationship with America “has enabled us to confront so many regional and international challenges.”

Bahrain, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, all U.S. allies, began a boycott of Qatar over a political dispute in June 2017 that continues today.

Pompeo will travel to Saudi Arabia after his daylong stay in Doha.

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Chad, CAR Threaten to Abandon Cameroon Port, Blame Corruption

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeAF

Landlocked Chad and the Central African Republic have dispatched senior customs officials to Cameroon to look into allegations of corruption in the Atlantic Coast port of Douala.

At the port, heavy equipment is excavating and relocating huge quantities of abandoned material at the Douala seaport.

Some of the containers, with vehicles and other goods destined for Cameroon, Chad and CAR, were abandoned by importers who complain that high levels of corruption, red tape and overpriced services are driving them away from one of Africa’s largest harbors.

Pay and pay again

Moise Vokeng of the Professional Transporters Network at the Douala seaport says importers and exporters are looking for alternatives.

“When you arrive at the port and at any checkpoint, from gendarmes to police to customs, you have to pay money, you have to pay heavy money, you do not know why you pay but you must pay before you pass,” Vokeng said.

“Whether you enter with empty trucks or you are loaded, you have to pay. When we load we have to wait for the tracking equipment from the customs to be certain and when it is certain we have six hours to leave the seaport to Yassa, which is the first checkpoint. When you arrive at the checkpoint after six hours you have penalties to pay,” he added.

Vokeng says clearing procedures are long and cumbersome because of degraded infrastructure and lack of investment. He says to take a car out, an importer needs no fewer than 25 stamps before paying $2,000 to customs officials for a 5- to 10-year-old car. He says to remove a car from the port at times takes two to three weeks.

Yaya Abdallah, a Chadian driver finally leaves the port. He says corruption is not only a problem inside the port, it stalks drivers on the road as well. He says Chadian and CAR drivers say Cameroon’s military and police harass them and drivers pay huge sums of money, which makes their businesses highly unprofitable.

He says they spend more than $300 to bribe gendarmes and police between Douala and Ndjamena, and no one seems to listen to them when they complain.

Officials deny bribe-taking

But Ngube Philomene, a senior official of the Cameroon military controlling traffic between Cameroon and Chad and Cameroon and CAR, says that because of insecurity, they have to control the trucks. She denies they collect bribes from drivers.

“We are systematically controlling all vehicles to CAR and Chad because of insecurity and the crisis in CAR. We have to do it for their own security and safety,” Ngube says.

Douala is the nearest ocean gateway for Chad and CAR, but importers and exporters say they are fed up and want to relocate to Cotonou in Benin.

Onana Ndoh, secretary general of the Community of Workers at Douala’s port authority argues, that Cotonou will be more expensive. He says it would be better for the landlocked countries to meet Cameroonian authorities and negotiate improvements.

“The shippers of Central Africa and Chad cannot leave the port of Douala, the shortest way for them to go to the sea,” he said. “I can tell you that the commandant of Gendarmerie in the port has already taken steps to punish all caught in creating complications to shippers.”

This week, Chad’s director of customs, Colonel Ousmane Adam Dicki, visited Cameroon. He says he first wants goods that have been piling up there to be cleared before negotiations on what his country will do next.

He says his country has sent him to take stock of all merchandise and containers destined for Chad, and to control and organize their transit within the shortest possible time.

More than 2,000 containers have been stuck in Douala for the past two months. In the past 30 years, there has been no major investment to expand the port.
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Iran Protests Poland-US Mideast Summit

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeEU

Iran’s foreign ministry summoned a senior Polish diplomat Sunday to protest Poland’s jointly hosting a global summit with the United States focused on the Middle East, particularly Iran, state news agency IRNA reported.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday the summit, to be in Warsaw Feb. 13-14, would focus on stability and security in the Middle East, including on the “important element of making sure that Iran is not a destabilizing influence.”

An Iranian foreign ministry official told Poland’s charge d’affaires in Tehran that Iran saw the decision to host the meeting as a “hostile act against Iran” and warned that Tehran could reciprocate, IRNA added.

“Poland’s charge d’affaires provided explanations about the conference and said it was not anti-Iran,” the agency added.

On Friday, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif criticized Poland for hosting the meeting and wrote on Twitter: “Polish Govt can’t wash the shame: while Iran saved Poles in WWII, it now hosts desperate anti-Iran circus.”

Zarif was referring to Iran hosting more than 100,000 Polish refugees during the World War II.

Relations between Tehran and Washington are highly fraught following the decision in May by President Donald Trump to pull the U.S. out of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and six major powers and to re-impose sanctions.
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Government Shutdown Day 23: Congress Gone, President Tweets

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeUS

The longest government shutdown in U.S. history continues, entering its 23rd day Sunday.

On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump took to Twitter to post about the Democrats and their congressional leaders.

In a reference to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, Trump posted late Saturday: “I am in the White House waiting for Cryin’ Chuck and Nancy to call so we can start helping our Country both at the Border and from within!”

Earlier Saturday, the president tweeted: “We have a massive Humanitarian Crisis at our Southern Border. We will be out for a long time unless the Democrats come back from their “vacations” and get back to work. I am in the White House ready to sign!”

Both the House and Senate adjourned Friday afternoon and will return to Washington Monday.

Border wall standoff

The shutdown stems from Trump’s demand for billions of dollars to build a wall between the U.S. and Mexico, a move the House of Representatives has refused. The president says the wall is needed to keep out migrants whom he called “criminals” and “rapists” during his successful presidential campaign.

Meanwhile, the shutdown has affected some 800,000 federal workers who have been furloughed or who are working without pay. Neither group knows when they will see a pay check again.

Some municipalities and businesses are trying to help federal workers and their families with special discounts and offerings.

In the Washington area, Giant Food Stores opened pop-up markets on several of its parking lots Saturday to give free groceries to federal workers. School districts in Washington and surrounding areas have expanded their school lunch program to provide free lunches to children whose parents are victims of the shutdown.

‘Painless as possible’

Russell T. Vought, deputy director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the Trump administration is seeking “to make this shutdown as painless as possible, consistent with the law.”

A former OMB leader, however, disagrees.

Alice Rivlin, who led OMB during the 21-day shutdown in 1996, said, “The strategy seems to be to keep the shutdown in place, not worry about the effect on employees and furloughed people and contractors, but where the public might be annoyed, give a little.”

Rivlin said the difference between 1996 and now is “We wanted it to end. I’m not convinced the Trump administration does.”

National emergency talk

The lapse in funding has hit roughly a quarter of the federal government, including the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department.

Trump visited the border town of McAllen, Texas, Thursday, saying he may declare a national emergency.

“We’re either going to have a win, make a compromise, because I think a compromise is a win for everybody, or I will declare a national emergency,” he said.

Such a declaration would allow Trump to spend money on a wall without congressional approval. It would likely bring an immediate court challenge from Democrats who say there is no emergency at the border and that the president would be overstepping his constitutional authority.

Trump is blaming the government shutdown and impasse on wall funding on the Democrats, especially House Speaker Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Schumer.

He says they are oblivious to national security and will not compromise.

Pelosi and Schumer say the president is obsessed by the wall and has manufactured a crisis, in part, to distract the country from his other problems.

They have proposed reopening the government and separating the wall issue for separate negotiations.
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Massive Bookstore in Portland Thrives in Age of E-Books

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeUS

Despite e-books and smartphones with reading apps, the book business in the U.S. is enjoying a resurgence. And though internet sales take their toll on bookstores around the country, one store in Portland, Oregon, seems to be operating as usual. Powell’s Books, founded by a family of Ukrainian descent more than 45 years ago, is as popular as ever. Iryna Matviichuk reports from Portland in this story narrated by Anna Rice.
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Breakthrough Made in Treating Ebola Virus

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeAF

In northeastern Congo, more than 600 people have fallen ill with the Ebola virus, and at least 368 people have died from the disease. It’s been difficult to contain the virus because of conflict in the region, despite medical advances, including a vaccine.

The Democratic Republic of Congo is where Ebola was first discovered in 1976, when the country was called Zaire. The disease was named after the Ebola River where the virus was spreading. Between then and 2013, there was no treatment or a vaccine. The outbreak ran its course in quarantined communities.

Scientists started studying the virus, however, trying to come up with better ways to handle its various deadly strains. They succeeded in producing a vaccine to help end the Ebola epidemic that swept through three West African countries between 2013 and 2016. More than 11,000 people died in that outbreak.

Treatment found

At that time, treatment for the Zaire strain of Ebola was developed. It was costly to produce and didn’t work on two other lethal strains, the Sudan and Bundibugyo viruses.

But now scientists have found one. Their research produced a drug cocktail called MBP134 that helped monkeys infected with three deadly strains of Ebola recover from the disease.

What’s more, the treatment requires a single intravenous injection.

Thomas Geisbert, Ph.D., led the research at the University of Texas Medical Branch, part of a public-private partnership that also included Mapp Biopharmaceuticals, the U.S. Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, and the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Must treat all strains

In an interview with VOA, Geisbert stressed the need for a treatment that would be effective against all strains of Ebola.

“When an outbreak occurs, we really don’t know which one of those three strains, species, we call them, is the cause of that particular episode,” Geisbert said.

He added that the treatments available have been effective only against the Zaire species, which leaves people infected with the other species unprotected.

“Our goal was to develop a treatment that would work regardless of the particular strain of Ebola that was causing it,” Geisbert said.

“If I have to make a drug that only works against Zaire, and another drug that only works against Sudan and another drug that only works against the Bundibugyo species, that is extremely expensive,” he added.

Geisbert said the treatment will save valuable time in determining which strain of Ebola is circulating in a particular outbreak. It will save lives because people can be treated immediately, and it will also save money.

No profit

There’s no profit for the pharmaceutical companies that produce the drugs.

“It’s not like you’re making up vaccine for flu where companies [are] going to make a profit. There’s really a small global market for Ebola so it really has to be sponsored by the government,” he said.

In addition to the U.S. Army and the Canadian government, the U.S. National Institutes of Health has supported much of this research.

Geisbert said the work ahead involves tweaking the dose to its lowest possible amount, making it easier to distribute — again to reduce costs — and conducting clinical trials in humans to ensure the treatment is safe and effective.

Geisbert is confident it will work in humans, although he cautioned that in science, nothing is certain.

The treatment may not be ready to help those with Ebola in the Congo outbreak, but the promise is that countries affected by the virus could have the treatment at the ready to stop future Ebola outbreaks.

It also means that should someone with Ebola walk into a hospital outside of Africa, as happened in Texas when a Liberian man sought treatment, the patient can be cured, and health care workers can be protected.
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Zimbabwe Promises New Currency as Dollar Shortage Bites

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeAF

Zimbabwe will introduce a new currency in the next 12 months, the finance minister said, as a shortage of U.S. dollars has plunged the financial system into disarray and forced businesses to close.

In the past two months, the southern African nation has suffered acute shortages of imported goods, including fuel whose price was increased by 150 percent Saturday.

Zimbabwe abandoned its own currency in 2009 after it was wrecked by hyperinflation and adopted the greenback and other currencies, such as sterling and the South African rand.

But there is not enough hard currency in the country to back up the $10 billion of electronic funds trapped in local bank accounts, prompting demands from businesses and civil servants for cash that can be deposited and used to make payments.

Two weeks of reserves

Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube told a townhall meeting Friday a new local currency would be introduced in less than 12 months.

“On the issue of raising enough foreign currency to introduce the new currency, we are on our way already, give us months, not years,” he said.

Zimbabwe’s foreign reserves now provide less than two weeks cover for imports, central bank data show. The government has previously said it would only consider launching a new currency if it had at least six months of reserves.

Bad memories of Zimbabwean dollar

Locals are haunted by memories of the Zimbabwean dollar, which became worthless as inflation spiraled to reach 500 billion percent in 2008, the highest rate in the world for a country not at war, wiping out pensions and savings.

A surrogate bond note currency introduced in 2016 to stem dollar shortages has also collapsed in value.

President Emmerson Mnangagwa is under pressure to revive the economy but dollar shortages are undermining efforts to win back foreign investors sidelined under his predecessor Robert Mugabe.

Mnangagwa told reporters Saturday that the price of petrol had increased to $3.31 per liter from $1.32 since midnight but there would be no increase for foreign embassies and tourists paying in cash U.S. dollars.

Locals can pay via local debit cards, mobile phone payments and a surrogate bond note currency.

With less than $400 million in actual cash in Zimbabwe, according to central bank figures, fuel shortages have worsened and companies are struggling to import raw materials and equipment, forcing them to buy greenback notes on the black market at a premium of up to 370 percent.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries has warned some of its members could stop operating at the end of the month because of the dollar crunch.

Cooking oil and soap maker Olivine Industries said Saturday it had suspended production and put workers on indefinite leave because it owed foreign suppliers $11 million.

A local associate of global brewing giant Anheuser-Busch Inbev said this week it would invest more than $120 million of dividends and fees trapped in Zimbabwe into the central bank’s savings bonds.
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Palestinians Mourn Woman Killed by Israeli Fire at Protest

Posted on 01/13/2019 by SeeEA

Hundreds of Palestinians gathered Saturday for the funeral of a woman killed by Israeli forces at a protest near the perimeter fence, this year’s first fatality from the weekly mass demonstrations.

Amal al-Taramsi, 43, an activist who had regularly attended the protests, was shot the day before. Al-Mezan, a Palestinian human rights group, said she was around 200 meters from the fence when she was shot in the head.

Of the 186 Palestinians killed since the protests were launched last spring, only three were women. A 21-year-old medic and a 14-year-old girl were killed last year. An Israeli soldier was also killed last year.

Amal’s mother, Halima, sobbed as she sat in the corner of her home, waiting for her daughter’s body, which was wrapped with a Palestinian flag.

The Israelis “should leave our lands and let us alone to live in freedom,” she said, urging Palestinian factions to unite against Israel and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Gaza’s Hamas rulers have orchestrated the protests, in part to call for the lifting of a crippling decade-long Israeli and Egyptian blockade.

Rocks vs. bullets

The demonstrations draw Palestinians of all ages, but most gather several hundred meters from the fence. It’s usually young men who approach the barrier, hurling rocks and firebombs at Israeli forces on the other side, who respond with tear gas, rubber-coated bullets and live fire.

Israeli forces have shot and wounded thousands of Palestinians since the protests began. Several fellow protesters attended Saturday’s funeral in wheelchairs or walking with crutches.

Israel accuses Hamas of using the protests as a cover for attacks and says it uses force only to defend its borders. The military said 13,000 people took part in Friday’s demonstrations, with a few protesters briefly crossing into Israel through openings in the fence before returning.

Israeli aircraft struck two Hamas positions in response to the violence without inflicting any casualties.

Late Saturday, the Israeli military said a rocket fired from Gaza fell in an open area in southern Israel. There were no reports of injuries. No Palestinian group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Egyptian mediators have visited Gaza in recent days to try to shore up a two-month-old cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, who have fought three wars since 2008 and were nearly embroiled in a fourth in November.

Israel has allowed Qatar to deliver $15 million in aid each month since November to pay the salaries of Hamas civil servants. The latest batch was delayed after a rocket attack earlier this month but is widely expected to be delivered if the situation remains calm. The weekly protests have been more subdued since the understandings were reached.

Qatar has also bought fuel for Gaza’s lone power plant, helping to reduce power outages. Electricity is still available for only a few hours every day, and the tap water in Gaza is undrinkable. The blockade has devastated the local economy in Gaza, where unemployment exceeds 50 percent.
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Saudi Arabia to Set Up $10B Oil Refinery in Pakistan

Posted on 01/12/2019 by SeeEA

Saudi Arabia plans to set up a $10 billion oil refinery in Pakistan’s deepwater port of Gwadar, the Saudi energy minister said Saturday, speaking at the Indian Ocean port that is being developed with the help of China.

Pakistan wants to attract investment and other financial support to tackle a soaring current account deficit caused partly by rising oil prices. Last year, Saudi Arabia offered Pakistan a $6 billion package that included help to finance crude imports.

“Saudi Arabia wants to make Pakistan’s economic development stable through establishing an oil refinery and partnership with Pakistan in the China Pakistan Economic Corridor,” Saudi Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih told reporters in Gwadar.

He said Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman would visit Pakistan in February to sign the agreement. The minister added that Saudi Arabia would also invest in other sectors.

Beijing has pledged $60 billion as part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that involves building power stations, major highways, new and upgraded railways and higher capacity ports, to help turn Pakistan into a major overland route linking western China to the world.

“With setting up of an oil refinery in Gwadar, Saudi Arabia will become an important partner in CPEC,” Pakistan Petroleum Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan said.

The Saudi news agency SPA earlier reported that Falih met Pakistan’s petroleum minister and Maritime Affairs Minister Ali Zaidi in Gwadar to discuss cooperation in refining, petrochemicals, mining and renewable energy.

It said Falih would finalize arrangements ahead of signing memorandums of understanding.

Assistance packages

Since the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan came to power in August, Pakistan has secured economic assistance packages from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and China.

In November, Pakistan extended talks with the International Monetary Fund as it seeks its 13th bailout since the late 1980s to deal with a looming balance of payments crisis.

The Pakistani prime minister’s office had said on Thursday that Islamabad expected to sign investment agreements with Saudi Arabia and the UAE in coming weeks.
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