Tag Archives: Prime Minister

Top Trump aide in Pakistan says terrorism must be fought ‘in all forms’

FILE PHOTO - Newly named National Security Adviser Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster listens as U.S. President Donald Trump makes the announcement at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida U.S.

By Kay Johnson

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s national security adviser met Pakistan’s prime minister and army chief on Monday and emphasized “the need to confront terrorism in all its forms”, while praising democratic and economic development.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expressed hope that the new U.S. administration might mediate between Pakistan and longtime foe India over the divided Himalayan region of Kashmir.

H.R. McMaster was on his first South Asian trip since the new U.S. administration took office in January, earlier stopping in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s war-ravaged neighbor to the west.

Official statements on Monday gave little indication of whether the Trump administration would adopt a new, tougher policy on Pakistan, as some Afghan officials and Islamabad’s arch-foe India would like.

Afghan officials have long accused Pakistan of providing Taliban insurgents shelter, and perhaps support, on its side of the countries’ porous border.

Pakistan denies it shelters the Afghan Taliban and says it fights against all the region’s jihadist groups with equal vigor.

McMaster – a U.S. Army general who served in the American-led international force in Afghanistan – indicated frustration with Pakistan in an interview with an Afghan news channel on Sunday.

“As all of us have hoped for many, many years, we have hoped that Pakistani leaders will understand that it is in their interest to go after these groups less selectively than they have in the past,” he told TOLO News in Kabul.

“And the best way to pursue their interest in Afghanistan and elsewhere is through diplomacy not through the use of proxies that engage in violence.”

In Pakistan, McMaster’s gave no interviews and the official statement on his visit was more diplomatically couched.

“General McMaster expressed appreciation for Pakistan’s democratic and economic development, and stressed the need to confront terrorism in all its forms,” the U.S. Embassy said in a statement.

McMaster met Prime Minister Sharif and Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa as well as top foreign policy and national security officials.

“The prime minister conveyed Pakistan’s readiness to work with the international community to explore ways in which the Afghan crisis can be resolved,” Sharif’s office said in a statement.

It also said Sharif would welcome U.S. mediation in Pakistan’s disputes with India.

“(Sharif) welcomed President Trump’s willingness to help India and Pakistan resolve their difference particularly on Kashmir and noted that this could go a long way in bringing sustainable peace, security and prosperity to the region.”

The Indian-administered side of Kashmir has seen a recent spike in separatist violence amid accusations of brutality against supporters of the 28-year-old insurgency that India accuses Pakistan of fomenting. Pakistan denies the accusation.

The nuclear-armed rivals have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.

(Editing by Robert Birsel)

Blasts in St. Petersburg, Russia metro stations kill 10

An injured person stands outside Sennaya Ploshchad metro station, following explosions in two train carriages at metro stations in St. Petersburg.

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (Reuters) – At least 10 people were killed in explosions in two train carriages at metro stations in St. Petersburg on Monday, Russian authorities said.

Interfax news agency quoted an unnamed source as saying one of the blasts was caused by a bomb filled with shrapnel.

President Vladimir Putin, who was in St. Petersburg for a meeting with Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko, said the cause of the blasts was not yet clear and efforts were underway to find out. He said he was considering all possibilities including terrorism.

A Reuters witness saw eight ambulances near the Sennaya

Ploshchad metro station.

Video showed injured people lying bleeding on a platform, some being treated by emergency services. Others ran away from the platform amid clouds of smoke.

 

An injured person is helped by emergency services outside Sennaya Ploshchad metro station, following explosions in two train carriages at metro stations in St. Petersburg.

An injured person is helped by emergency services outside Sennaya Ploshchad metro station, following explosions in two train carriages at metro stations in St. Petersburg. REUTERS/Anton Vaganov

A huge whole was blasted in the side of one carriage with mangled metal wreckage strewn around the platform. Passengers were seen hammering at the windows of one closed carriage.

Authorities closed all St. Petersburg metro stations. The Moscow metro said it was taking unspecified additional security measures in case of an attack there.

Russia has been the target of attacks by Chechen militants in past years. Chechen rebel leaders have frequently threatened further attacks.

At least 38 people were killed in 2010 when two female suicide bombers detonated bombs on packed Moscow metro trains.

Over 330 people, half of them children, were killed in 2004 when police stormed a school in southern Russia after a hostage taking by islamist militants. In 2002, 120 hostages were killed when police stormed a Moscow theater to end another hostage taking.

Putin, as prime minister, launched a 1999 campaign to crush a separatist government in the Muslim southern region of Chechnya, and as president continued a hard line in suppressing rebellion.

(Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Hungary Prime Minster Vows to Seal Border

The prime minister of Hungary, who has been at odds with many european leaders about the mass influx of migrants, is vowing to seal his nation’s border and keep the migrants from illegally entering or passing through his country.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban told reporters that if any migrants attempt to enter the nation except through a designated area, they will be arrested and imprisoned.

“I’m therefore asking those who want to cross into Europe through Hungary: don’t come,” Orban said. “Even though the situation won’t change overnight, we will gradually achieve results and the time will come when we can tell our Austrian and German friends that Hungary’s southern borders are hermetically sealed.”

The move by Orban comes as leaders of Germany and France are pushing a proposal through the European Union where all nations either accept part of the 160,000 migrants in Greece, Hungary and Italy or pay a fee to be temporarily excluded from being forced to take the migrants.

The influx of migrants has become so intense that the Greek island of Lesbos, which has 100,000 residents, is holding 20,000 migrants.

Germany has said they will take 40,000 of the 160,000; France says they will accept 31,000.

Some nations, such as Slovakia, have said they do not want to accept Muslims into their country but will be open to migrants of other faiths.

Greek Prime Minister Resigns

The economic crisis in Greek has forced the nation’s prime minister to resign.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced he will resign and call for new national elections in September.  The move is seen as an attempt to thwart more radical members of his own party from stopping the economic reforms that were required as part of the nation’s latest bailout package.

“I am resigning because I have now exhausted the mandate which the public gave me in January’s general election,” Tsipras said in a national address.  “You will judge us, the ones that promoted the drachma pathway and the ones that served the old system.”

While some government sources are saying the elections would take place on September 20th, Tsipras did not give a specific date in his national address.

Opinion polls show that Tsipras is the current favorite to regain his position as PM.

In the interim, the nation’s first female PM will take over on a temporary basis.  Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, the President of the Supreme Court of Greece, will be in charge of the government until a new PM is chosen.

The announcement had an immediate impact on the nation’s economy, as Greek bonds suffered an immediate drop.

Sitting PM David Cameron’s Party Wins British Elections

David Cameron, the British Prime Minister who hasn’t been shy about discussing his Christian faith, looks to be on track for another term as PM after Thursday’s British elections.

Cameron’s Conservative Party is on pace to win 331 seats in the next Parliament according to the BBC.  The victory is viewed as a massive surprise on par with Benjamin Netanyahu’s big win in Israel.  In both cases, the media predicted big losses for the conservative party with big gains for liberal parties.

The leaders of the liberal parties such as Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg said they would be stepping down to allow for new leadership for their parties.

Cameron has been criticized by anti-religion groups and liberal parties for his open Christianity.

“People who advocate some sort of secular neutrality fail to grasp the consequences of that neutrality, or the role that faith can play in helping people to have a moral code,” Cameron said to the Church Times.

“I believe we should be more confident about our status as a Christian country, more ambitious about expanding the role of faith-based organizations, and, frankly, more evangelical about a faith that compels us to get out there and make a difference to people’s lives.”

Cameron said he wants to bring the nation together.

“I want to bring our country together, our United Kingdom together, not least by implementing as fast as we can the devolution that we rightly promised and came together with other parties to agree both for Wales and for Scotland,” the British PM added.

“In short, I want my party, and I hope a government I would like to lead, to reclaim a mantle that we should never have lost – the mantle of One Nation, One United Kingdom. That is how I will govern if I am fortunate enough to form a government in the coming days.”

Iraqi PM: ISIS Plans Attacks On U.S. Subways

The Prime Minister of Iraq says he has credible information regarding an ISIS plot to attack the United States.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi surprised intelligence and transit security officials in the U.S. who said they had no knowledge of the PM’s claims.  New York City officials quickly took to the media to assure citizens the subway system was safe.

“They plan to have attacks in the metros of Paris and the U.S.,” Abedi told reporters after a meeting of the U.N. General Assembly. “I asked for more credible information. I asked for names. I asked for details, for cities, you know, dates. And from the details I have received, yes, it looks credible.”

Iraqi intelligence officials would not specifically comment on the PM’s statements other than to say a full assessment of the plans discovered is ongoing.  U.S. officials said they had not confirmed any “specific threat.”

“We want to increase the number of willing countries who would support this,” PM Abedi said. “This is not military. This is intelligence. This is security. The terrorists have a massive international campaign. Don’t underestimate it.”