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Tag: Rex Tillerson

  • U.S. announces $533m for Nigeria, others

    U.S. announces $533m for Nigeria, others

    The U.S. has announced about 533 million dollars in humanitarian assistance for Nigeria, Ethiopia, Somalia, and South Sudan, as well as countries in the Lake Chad region.

    U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said millions of people were facing life-threatening food insecurity and malnutrition as a result of ongoing conflict or prolonged drought in the countries.

    Of the newly announced funds, more than $128 million is for affected populations from Nigeria and countries in the Lake Chad region.

    About $184 million is for affected populations from South Sudan and more than $110 million for affected populations from Ethiopia.

    The humanitarian assistance includes more than $110 million for affected populations from Somalia.

    Tillerson said: “today I’m announcing $533 million in additional humanitarian assistance to fight famine and food insecurity and address other needs resulting from conflicts in Somalia, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and the Lake Chad Basin.

    “The alarming levels of hunger in these areas are largely man-made, as conflicts erupt and people flee their homes.

    “Under these conditions, people cannot produce crops and often lose access altogether to food, education, and health care. Many lose everything.

    “And regrettably, Mother Nature can still be cruel, such as in the Horn of Africa, where a prolonged drought is contributing to grave food insecurity”.

    According to him, these additional funds will provide emergency food, nutrition assistance, and other aid.

    This includes safe drinking water, thousands of tons of food, and deliver health programs to prevent the spread of deadly diseases like cholera to millions of people, he said adding “This will save lives”.

    “The American people, as we always have been, are there to partner with African countries to ensure their most vulnerable populations receive life-saving assistance.

    “We also call upon others to join us in meeting the growing humanitarian needs in Africa. We hope these initial contributions will encourage others to contribute aid to increase burden sharing and meet the growing humanitarian needs in Africa.

    “However, this assistance will not solve these ongoing conflicts, but only buy us time – time to pursue diplomatic solutions,” Tillerson stressed.

    According to him, ultimately it is up to the leaders in these countries, particularly in South Sudan, to stop the violence and put the welfare of their citizens at the forefront of their actions.

    He said millions would continue to be at risk as long as parties to these conflicts continue to engage in violence, calling on all parties to allow aid workers safe and unhindered access to help communities in need.

    The U.S. is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance for these crises in Africa, providing nearly three billion dollars since the beginning of Fiscal Year 2017.

    NAN

  • U.S Secretary of State to visit Nigeria, Kenya, three others

    U.S Secretary of State to visit Nigeria, Kenya, three others

    United States Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, has departed for Africa on a weeklong five-country official visit to Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

    The visit will end March 13.

    Tillerson, during the visit, will meet President Muhammadu Buhari and other top government officials, and the leaders of the three other countries.

    The trip, his first official visit to Africa, as Secretary of State, will begin with a trip to Ethiopia and later to Djibouti from where he will go to Kenya and Chad before coming to Nigeria.

    Speaking at George Mason University, Virginia, before his departure, the Secretary of State expressed optimism that there was ample opportunity in Africa for economic growth, greater prosperity and for responding to global challenges through mutually respectful partnerships.

    According to him, he looks forward to returning and building on a strong foundation of U.S.-Africa relations, including visiting Chad, a country that has never before welcomed a visit by the Secretary of State.

    Speaking on “U.S.-Africa Relations: A New Framework,” Tillerson said over the past century, as African nations emerged from their colonial past, there had been a dramatic increase in America’s engagement with Africa.

    “40 years ago this month, President Jimmy Carter visited Liberia and Nigeria, where he announced that ‘our nation has now turned in an unprecedented way toward Africa’.

    “Today that turning continues. Our country’s security and economic prosperity are linked with Africa’s like never before,” he said, adding the Africa-U.S. engagement will only intensify in the coming decades for several reasons.

    NAN

     

     

  • Youths want inclusion in 2019 elections

    Youths want inclusion in 2019 elections

    Young leaders from the South have made a strong call for a more sustainable strategy for democratic inclusion of young people in Nigeria’s current political process and structure ahead of 2019 general elections.

    This call was part of the resolution reached at the “Southern young leaders’ conference for economic and political consciousness” held in Enugu over the weekend. 

    The conference which was attended by the over one thousand young leaders from across Southern Nigeria annexed the great economic potentials and political gaps/challenges in Southern Nigeria, with a view of bringing about a more sustainable strategy for democratic inclusion of young people in Southern Nigeria. 

    Convener of the conference, Moses Siasia, in a statement on Monday in Abuja, said the leaders at the conference agreed that Southern Governors must come together irrespective of their political affiliations to redefine and rejuvenate economic integration in Southern Nigeria.

    In a communique issued at the end of the conference, the young leaders agreed that there is a need for young leaders and all youth organizations within Southern Nigeria to mobilize, synergize and come together in order to achieve a collective future.

    The statement reads: “The Southern Young Leaders have decided to arise and strengthen the relationship with Rex Tillerson, the United States Secretary of State, who served in Southern Nigerian during his days at Exxon Mobile and understands the challenges faced by the region.  

    “All young leaders from southern Nigeria are hereby put on notice that mobilization would cut across higher institutions, religious establishments, women groups, youth advocacy groups for the collection of Permanent Voters Card ( PVCs ) and participation in the 2019 election.”

    Irresponsible attitude of some young people currently occupying political positions of leadership in Southern Nigeria was equally condemned at the conference and further urged the electorates to be more wary of the kind of Young Leaders they vote for in future elections.

    The Southern Young Leaders also collectively agreed to support a mass movement for a new Nigeria, come 2019.

    The conference had several speakers including the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly Speaker, Rt Hon Luke Onofiok; former Bayelsa state governorship candidate and chairman of the Nigerian Young professionals Forum, Moses Siasia; immediate past president of Ijaw youth council, Udengs Eradiri amongst others.

    Attendance at the conference cut across representatives of all ethnic groups, political divides, state representatives, traditional leaders, religious leaders, student union leaders and young political aspirants from across southern Nigeria.

  • Jordan urges US not to recognise Jerusalem as Israel capital

    Jordan urges US not to recognise Jerusalem as Israel capital

    Jordan’s foreign minister has warned the United States of “dangerous consequences” if it recognises Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

    Ayman Safadi said he had told U.S Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, such a declaration would trigger great anger in the Arab and Muslim world.

    Speculation is mounting that President Donald Trump will announce the move soon, fulfilling an election pledge, the BBC reports.

    Jared Kushner, Mr. Trump’s son-in-law, said no decision had yet been made.

    In a tweet, Mr. Safadi said: “Spoke with US Secretary of State Tillerson on dangerous consequences of recognising Jerusalem as capital of Israel. Such a decision would trigger anger across #Arab #Muslim worlds, fuel tension and jeopardise peace efforts.”

    There was no public response from the U.S State Department on the matter.

    Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, is trying to rally international support to persuade Mr. Trump not to make the announcement.

    His office said he made phone calls on Sunday to world leaders including French President, Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

  • Pope Francis arrives in Myanmar amid humanitarian crisis

    Pope Francis arrives in Myanmar amid humanitarian crisis

    Pope Francis landed in Yangon on Monday, the start of a delicate visit for the world’s most prominent Christian to majority-Buddhist Myanmar, which the U.S. has accused of “ethnic cleansing” its Muslim Rohingya people.

    The pope will also visit Bangladesh, where more than 620,000 Rohingya have fled to escape what Amnesty International has dubbed “crimes against humanity”.

    The Myanmar army has denied the accusations of murder, rape, torture and forcible displacement.

    After leaving Rome, the pope told reporters on his plane: “They say it’s too hot (in Myanmar). I‘m sorry, but let’s hope it will at least be fruitful.”

    Ethnic minorities in traditional dress welcomed Francis at Yangon airport, and children presented him with flowers as he stepped off his plane.

    He waved through an open window at dozens of children waving Vatican and Myanmar flags and T-shirts with the motto of the trip – “love and peace” – as he set off in a light blue Toyota car for St. Mary’s Cathedral in the heart of the city.

    Only about 700,000 of Myanmar’s 51 million people are Roman Catholic.

    Thousands of them travelled by train and bus to Yangon, and they joined crowds at several roadside points along the way from the airport to catch a glimpse of the pope.

    “We come here to see the Holy Father. It happens once in hundreds of years,” said Win Min Set, a community leader who brought a group of 1,800 Catholics from southern and western states of the country.

    “He is very knowledgeable when it comes to political affairs. He will handle the issue smartly,” he said, referring to the sensitivity of the pope’s discussions about the Rohingya.

    Large numbers of riot police were mobilised in the country’s main city but there were no signs of any protests.

    The trip is so delicate that some papal advisers have warned him against even saying the word “Rohingya”, lest he set off a diplomatic incident that could turn the Buddhist-majority country’s military and government against minority Christians.

    The Rohingya exodus from Rakhine state to Bangladesh’s southern tip began at the end of August, when Rohingya militants attacked security posts and the Myanmar army launched a counter-offensive.

    U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lon Thursday called the military operation “ethnic cleansing” and threatened targeted sanctions for “horrendous atrocities”.

    Myanmar’s government has denied most of the accusations made against it, and the army says its own investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing by troops.

    Myanmar does not recognise the Rohingya as citizens nor as members of a distinct ethnic group with their own identity, and it even rejects the term “Rohingya” and its use.

    Many people in Myanmar instead refer to members of the Muslim minority in Rakhine state as illegal migrants from Bangladesh.

    Francis is expected to meet a group of Rohingya refugees in Dhaka, capital of Bangladesh, on the second leg of his trip.

    The most tense moments of his Myanmar visit are likely to be private meetings with the army chief, Gen.  Min Aung Hlaing and, separately, civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

    More than 150,000 people have registered for a mass that Francis will say in Yangon on Wednesday, according to Catholic Myanmar Church spokesman Mariano Soe Naing.

    Vatican sources say some in the Holy See believe the trip was decided too hastily after full diplomatic ties were established in May during a visit by Suu Kyi.

    Suu Kyi’s reputation as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been tarnished because she has expressed doubts about the reports of rights abuses against the Rohingya and failed to condemn the military.

    “I have great admiration for the pope and his abilities, but someone should have talked him out of making this trip,” said Father Thomas Reese, a prominent American author and analyst at Religion News Service.

    The pope has already used the word Rohingya in two appeals from the Vatican this year.

    Asked if he would say it in Myanmar, Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said Francis was taking the advice he had been given seriously, but added: “We will find out together during the trip … it is not a forbidden word”.

    A hardline Buddhist monk group previously known as Ma Ba Tha said it welcomed the pope’s visit but warned, without elaborating, of “a response” if he spoke openly about the Rohingya.

    “I hope he doesn’t touch on sensitive issues that Myanmar people couldn’t accept,” said Tawparka, a spokesman for the influential group, who goes by a single name.

    “There’s no problem if he talks about Islam, but it’s unacceptable if he speaks about Rohingya and extreme terrorists.”

    NAN

  • U.S: Don’t make us a ‘scapegoat’ for Afghan failures -Pakistan

    U.S: Don’t make us a ‘scapegoat’ for Afghan failures -Pakistan

    Pakistan rejected on Wednesday U.S. criticism of its efforts to fight terrorism saying it should not be used as a scapegoat for the failure of the U.S. military to win the war in Afghanistan.

    U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his policy for Afghanistan on Monday, committing to an open-ended conflict there and singling out Pakistan for harbouring Afghan Taliban insurgents and other militants.

    U.S. officials later warned that aid to Pakistan might be cut and Washington might downgrade nuclear-armed Pakistan’s status as a major non-NATO ally to pressure it to do more to help bring about an end to America’s longest-running war.

    Pakistani Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif added his voice to a chorus of indignation in Pakistan over the U.S. criticism, reiterating Pakistan’s denial that it harbours militants.

    “They should not make Pakistan a scapegoat for their failures in Afghanistan,” Asif said in an interview to Geo TV late on Tuesday.

    “Our commitment to the war against terrorism is unmatched and unshaken.”

    Pakistan has for years been battling militants who are seeking to overthrow the state with bomb attacks and assassinations.

    critics say the Pakistani military nurtures other Islamist factions, including the Afghan Taliban, which is seen as useful to Pakistan’s core confrontation with old rival India.

    Asif said Pakistan had suffered great losses from militancy.

    The government estimates 70,000 people have been killed since Pakistan joined the U.S. “war on terrorism” after Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

    He said Pakistan’s efforts to fight terrorism were being taken for granted and dismissed the notion the U.S. could “win the war against terror by threatening us or cornering us”.

    “Our contributions, sacrifices and our role as a coalition country have been disregarded and disrespected,” Asif said.

    The relationship between Pakistan and the United States has endured periods of extreme strain during the past decade, especially after al Qaeda militant leader Osama bin Laden was found and killed by U.S. special forces in Pakistan in 2011.

    U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who is due to meet Asif in coming days, on Tuesday outlined a range of options to change Pakistan’s approach but conceded there were concerns about putting too much pressure on Pakistan.

    Asif said Pakistan was also angered by Trump’s appeal to India to do more in Afghanistan.

    “Attempting to isolate Pakistan will not yield anything but a dangerous sharpening of strategic fault lines,” said Sherry Rehman, a senior opposition politician and former Pakistani ambassador to the United States.

    Former cricket star turned opposition politician Imran Khan said Pakistan should finally learn a valuable lesson: “Never to fight others wars for the lure of dollars,” he said on Twitter.

  • India key partner for U.S. in modernising Afghanistan – Tillerson

    India key partner for U.S. in modernising Afghanistan – Tillerson

    India will be a key partner for the U.S. that can help modernise Afghanistan both politically and economically, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

    Tillerson made this known in a statement after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

    “India will be an important partner in the effort to ensure peace and stability in the region, and we welcome its role in supporting Afghanistan’s political and economic modernization,” Tillerson said.

    Earlier President Donald Trump unveiled the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan which included expanded authorities to target terrorists.

    However, Trump said that the United States would not reveal troop numbers or plans going forward.

    Reacting, New Delhi welcomed the announcement of a new strategy of U.S. President Donald Trump for Afghanistan, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

    “We welcome President Trump’s determination to enhance efforts to overcome the challenges facing Afghanistan and confronting issues of safe havens and other forms of cross-border support enjoyed by terrorists.

    “India shares these concerns and objectives,” the statement said.

    The Indian ministry also reaffirmed its commitment to support the Afghan government’s efforts aimed at ensuring peace and security in the country.

    “We are committed to supporting the Government and the people of Afghanistan in their efforts to bring peace, security, stability and prosperity in their country.

    “We have been steadfast in extending reconstruction and development assistance to Afghanistan in keeping with our traditional friendship with its people.

    “We will continue these efforts, including in partnership with other countries,” the ministry stressed.

    Afghanistan has long been suffering from unstable political, social and security situation due to the activity of the Taliban and the Islamic State terrorist groups.

    The Afghan National Defence and Security Forces supported by the U.S.-led coalition are currently conducting joint offensive operations to combat terrorism across the country.

  • No one should worship in fear globally – US

    No one should worship in fear globally – US

    The United States Secretary of State, Mr Rex Tillerson, has said that no person should live in fear, worship in secret or face discrimination because of his or her religious belief globally.

    Tillerson, who made the assertion while releasing the 2016 International Religious Freedom Report, said that President Donald Trump had said that people should worship according to their conscience.

    According to him, the 2016 International Religious Freedom Report indicates that many governments around the world use discriminatory laws to deny their citizens freedom of religion or belief.

    “Almost 80 per cent of the global populations live with restrictions on or hostilities to limit their freedom of religion.

    “Where religious freedom is not protected, we know that instability, human rights abuses, and violent extremism have a greater opportunity to take root.

    “We cannot ignore these conditions. The Trump administration is committed to addressing these conditions in part by advancing international religious freedom around the world.

    “No one should have to live in fear, worship in secret, or face discrimination because of his or her beliefs,’’ he said.

    The U.S. Secretary of State said that the State Department would continue to advocate on behalf of those seeking to live their lives according to their faith.

    Tillerson said that the report was a requirement pursuant to the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 that upholds religious freedom as a core American value.

    “We remain concerned about the state of religious freedom in Saudi Arabia. The government does not recognise the right of non-Muslims to practice their religion in public.

    “It applies criminal penalties, including prison sentences, lashings, and fines, for apostasy, atheism, blasphemy, and insulting the state’s interpretation of Islam.

    “Of particular concern are attacks targeting Shia Muslims, and the continued pattern of social prejudice and discrimination against them.

    “We urge Saudi Arabia to embrace greater degrees of religious freedom for all of its citizens,’’ he said.

     

  • North Korea ‘considering’ strike on U.S base

    North Korea has said it is considering carrying out missile strikes on the United States Pacific territory of Guam.

    The North’s official news agency said on Tuesday the plan involved firing medium-to-long-range rockets at Guam, where U.S strategic bombers are based.

    U.S Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, flying into Guam, said there was no imminent threat from North Korea.

    He also defended President Donald Trump, who on Tuesday threatened Pyongyang with “fire and fury.”

    Mr. Tillerson said North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, did not understand diplomatic language, and a strong message was needed that he would understand.

    “I think the President just wanted to be clear to the North Korean regime that the U.S will defend itself and its allies,” the BBBC quoted the Secretary of State as saying in Guam.

    On Wednesday, Mr. Trump tweeted that the U.S nuclear arsenal was “more powerful than ever before,” but added he was hopeful “we will never have to use this power.”

    A foreign ministry statement quoted by Reuters called on all sides to avoid words or actions which might escalate the situation and to make greater efforts to resolve the issue via talks.

    The United Nations recently approved further economic sanctions on North Korea, which Pyongyang said were a “violent violation of our sovereignty,” warning the U.S would “pay a price.”

     

  • We are not seeking regime change in North Korea – U.S

    We are not seeking regime change in North Korea – U.S

    The United States government is not seeking a regime change in North Korea, the secretary of state has said, amid tensions over Pyongyang’s weapons programme.

    “We’re not your enemy,” Rex Tillerson said, adding that the U.S wanted a dialogue at some point.

    But a Republican senator said President Donald Trump had told him there would be a war with North Korea if its missile programme continued.

    Pyongyang claimed its latest missile could hit the U.S west coast.

    The second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) on Friday, celebrated by North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, was the latest to be conducted in defiance of a United Nations ban, the BBC reports.

    “We do not seek a regime change, we do not seek the collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula, we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th parallel,” said Mr. Tillerson, referring to the border between the Koreas.

    “We’re not your enemy, we’re not your threat but you’re presenting an unacceptable threat to us and we have to respond.”

    President Trump has repeatedly criticised China, which shares a land border with North Korea and is its closest economic ally, for not doing enough to stop Pyongyang’s weapons programme.

    However, Mr. Tillerson took a more diplomatic approach, saying that “only the North Koreans are to blame for this situation.”