DT e-Paper 21-02-17

DT
8
World
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2017
European Union welcomes Pence
assurance of Trump’s support
• Reuters, Brussels
US Vice President Mike Pence assured
the EU in Brussels on Monday
that the Trump administration
will develop their cooperation in
trade and security and backs the
EU as a partner in its own right.
A month after Donald Trump
caused alarm by renewing his endorsement
of Brexit and suggesting
others may follow UK out of
the EU, Pence told reporters that he
had come to “the home of the EU”
with a message from the president.
Speaking of a “strong commitment..
to continue cooperation and
partnership with the EU”, Pence added,
“Whatever our differences, our
two continents share the same heritage,
the same values and above all,
the same purpose to promote peace
and prosperity through freedom, democracy
and the rule of law.”
Donald Tusk, who chairs the European
Council of EU leaders, told reporters
that Pence had given him affirmative
answers to three questions
US Vice-President Mike Pence, left, and Nato Secretray General Jens Stoltenberg AFP
on Trump’s support for: the current
system of international law, Nato and
“the idea of a united Europe”.
EU officials said they were encouraged
by what they called
Pence’s clear assurances, including
on US backing for holding the EU
together after Brexit, though they
will watch closely to see how far
Trump’s actions match his deputy’s
words.
Pence noted the building of common
European institutions after
World War II and said, “With this union
and in cooperation with the US,
history will attest that when the US
and Europe are peaceful and prosperous,
we do advance the peace
and prosperity of all the world.”
Cold war history
Echoing comments he made over
the weekend in Germany, Pence
also addressed worries in Europe
over Trump’s suggestion that the
Nato defence pact was “obsolete”;
Washington, he said, was committed
to defending the sovereignty
and territory of European states
and holding Russia to account for
its actions in Ukraine.
Pence also repeated Trump’s belief
that “common ground” could
be established with Russia after
years of confrontation.
Tusk, a former Polish premier
who was jailed in the 1980s for opposing
Soviet control, seized on
Pence’s personal memories of a
youthful visit to divided Berlin to remind
the new administration of the
value that Europeans attach to Cold
War support from an earlier Republican
president, Ronald Reagan.
Europeans are concerned that
Trump may prefer bilateral ties
with European powers rather than
working with the Union. Pence
spoke of cooperation, including
against Islamist violence: “The
safety and security of your union
and our people depends on that increased
collaboration on the global
fight against terrorism.” •
Trump aides in
back-door Ukraine
peace plan
• Reuters, New York
US President Donald Trump’s personal
lawyer, a business associate and a
Ukrainian lawmaker have drawn up
a peace plan for the Russia-Ukraine
conflict, presenting the proposal to
the administration’s former national
security advisor, the New York Times
reported Sunday.
According to the report, Trump’s
lawyer Michael Cohen hand-delivered
the proposal to the office of Michael
Flynn, who resigned in disgrace a
week later due to a separate incident
involving contacts with Moscow’s ambassador
in Washington.
The report underscored stubborn
allegations of improper Russian influence
on the Trump administration,
with US intelligence agencies saying
Moscow meddled in the American
election in November to tip the outcome
in the Republican’s favour.
According to the Times, the amateur
diplomats behind the proposal are Cohen;
Felix Sater, a business associate who
helped Trump scout deals in Russia. •
Bosnians pray in front of coffins to mark 21 years since the Srebrenica massacre
Bosnia to appeal UN court ruling
clearing Serbia of genocide
• AFP, Sarajevo
Bosnia will ask the United Nations’
top court to review its 2007 ruling
which cleared Serbia of genocide
during the country’s civil war,
Bosnia’s Muslim leader said Friday.
The move announced by Bakir
Izetbegovic, the Muslim member
of Bosnia’s tripartite presidency,
could spark a new political crisis in
the Balkans country which remains
deeply divided along ethnic lines
since the 1992-1995 war.
Serb presidency member Mladen
Ivanic said Tuesday that such
a decision by Muslim officials
would “threaten peace and stability
in Bosnia.” Izetbegovic said
the request for revision would be
forwarded to the Hague-based International
Court of Justice (ICJ)
next week, just a few days before a
10-year deadline expires.
AP
‘New arguments’
Bosnian Serb officials say such a request
cannot be made without consensus
within the tripartite presidency.
But Izetbegovic insists it can and
said it would be done by a lawyer the
presidency appointed in 2002.
Bosnia’s legal team has “new
arguments,” notably those presented
during the trial of Bosnian Serb
wartime army chief Ratko Mladic
who is awaiting judgement at a UN
tribunal, Izetbegovic said.
In Belgrade, Serbian Prime Minister
Aleksandar Vucic labelled the
decision “difficult and bad” for ties
between the two neighbouring countries.
In the original case launched in
1993 by Bosnia’s then Muslim-dominated
government, Sarajevo accused
Belgrade of masterminding a genocide
through widespread “ethnic
cleansing” during the war which
killed more than 100,000. •
Myanmar soldiers
injured in clash
with militants in
Rakhine State
• Reuters, Yangon
Two members of Myanmar’s security
forces were injured in a clash with militants
on the troubled Rakhine State
border with Bangladesh, Myanmar
state counselor’s office said.
The government last week said the
situation in northern Rakhine had
stabilised and that it had ended a
four-month security crackdown on
Rohingya Muslims.
The security operation had been
under way since nine policemen were
killed in attacks on security posts near
the Bangladesh border on October 9.
Almost 69,000 Rohingyas have since
fled to Bangladesh, according to UN
estimates.
Two soldiers were wounded in a
five-minute clash with an armed group
on the border with Bangladesh on Friday
afternoon, the State Counselor’s
said in a statement late on Saturday.
“The forces providing security forces
to workers preparing border fence
between the Mile Post 56 and 57 in
Buthidaung township were attacked
by about 30 unidentified armed men
in black uniforms positioned on hills
on Bangladeshi side,” the statement
said, adding the armed men withdrew
after security forces returned fire. •
North Korea, Malaysia row as
Kim killing footage emerges
• AFP, Kuala Lumpur
North Korea and Malaysia on Monday
locked horns over the investigation
into the killing of leader Kim Jong-
Un’s brother, as footage emerged of
the moment he was fatally attacked
in a Kuala Lumpur airport.
Malaysia’s probe has put five
North Koreans in the frame for the
airport assassination of Kim Jong-
Nam, but Pyongyang said it had
no faith in the investigation and
claimed Kuala Lumpur was in cahoots
with “hostile forces”.
The diplomatic confrontation
gathered pace Monday when Malaysia
recalled its envoy to North Korea
and summoned Pyongyang’s ambassador
Kang Chol for a dressing down.
The Malaysian response to the
ambassador’s press conference was
equally blunt, with Foreign Minister
Anifah Aman saying North Korea’s
complaints were based on
“delusions, lies and half-truths”.
Any suggestion that the investigation
had a political motive was
“deeply insulting to Malaysia”, he
said.
Pyongyang has also criticised Malaysia
for carrying out a post-mortem
examination without North Korean
permission – a complaint Kuala
Lumpur said was groundless.
“The ministry emphasised that
Kim Jong Nam
REUTERS
as the death occurred on Malaysian
soil under mysterious circumstances,
it is the responsibility of the Malaysian
government to conduct an
investigation to identify the cause
of death,” the foreign ministry said.
Malaysian Prime Minister Najib
Razak backed those running the
probe, saying it was “very professional”.
“I have absolute confidence that
they are very objective in whatever
they do,” he said, in his first comments
since news of the killing broke.
“We have no reason why we
want to do something that would
paint the North Koreans in a bad
light. But we would be objective
and we expect them to understand
that we apply the rule of law in
Malaysia.” •