Libyan warlord battles for control of Tripoli airport as militia forces push closer to city - The Washington Post

CAIRO — A renegade militia seeking to storm its way into Libya’s capital battled for control of the international airport Saturday in a showdown that threatened to spill into bloody urban combat in the streets of Tripoli.

Fighters loyal to warlord Khalifa Hifter said they had overrun the airport on the southern edge of the city. But forces for Libya’s U.N.-backed government mounted a counterattack and it remained unclear which side held the airfield.

The airport has been closed since it suffered widespreaddamage during battles between rival groups in 2014. But it would be a symbolic blow to the government if the site fell to Hifter, who could use it as a key staging ground for further advances.

Hifter’s militia is aligned with a separate administration based in eastern Libya. The country, rich in oil and gas reserves, has been split into rival regions for years as the United Nations and others tried to hammer out a peace deal and set a road map for elections.

Hifter’s offensive could usher in the most significant escalation of violence since the toppling of Libyan dictator Moammar Gaddafi in 2011. Hifter was a general in Gaddafi’s army but defected and spent years living in Northern Virginia. He returned to Libya to take part in the revolution against Gaddafi’s rule.

Earlier Saturday, government warplanes targets Hifter’s militiamen in attempts to stop his push toward Tripoli. Human rights activists, meanwhile, warned that civilians could be caught in the middle if the fighting escalates for control of Tripoli.

The warplanes bombed positions of Gen. Khalifa Hifter’s self-described Libyan National Army that is south of Tripoli, prompting the warlord to declare that his forces would shoot down any aircraft flying over western Libya, local media reported. Tripoli residents on social media described hearing fighter jets passing over the city.

[Who is Khalifa Hifter and why is he marching on Tripoli?]

Saturday’s aerial assault came a day after Hifter’s forces clashed with militias aligned with the United Nations and the Western-backed Government of National Accord.

Hifter’s forces were stopped from advancing, and about 100 of his fighters were captured by the pro-government militias, local media reports said.

On Thursday, Hifter ordered his forces to seize control of Tripoli following their takeover of Gharyan, a town roughly 60 miles south of the capital. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres personally intervened in a bid to stop the fighting but failed Friday to convince Hifter to halt his offensive.

Human Rights Watch on Saturday raised concerns of possible abuses happening if fighting erupted inside the capital. Activists accuse Hifter’s fighters of committing numerous human rights violations, including summary executions, indiscriminate attacks on civilians and arbitrary detentions.

Pro-government militias also have a track record of abuses against civilians, the watchdog group said.

“Whenever rival armed forces clash in Libyan cities, it’s civilians who suffer the most,” Sarah Leah Whitson, the group’s Middle East and North Africa director, said in a statement. “All sides need to abide by the laws and minimize civilian harm.”

After meeting Friday with Hifter in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, Guterres said in a tweet that he was leaving Libya “with a heavy heart and deeply concerned.”

Hifter told Guterres that his offensive on Tripoli will continue, according to the al-Arabiya television network.

[Watch: Migrants face abuse at hands of Libya’s coast guard]

Hifter’s attempted power grab also risked setting off a fresh wave of people heading toward Libya’s borders or attempting to reach Europe over dangerous sea routes in the Mediterranean.

Fearing a spillover of refugees, neighboring Tunisia has tightened control over its border, said its Defense Ministry. The U.N. Security Council has also taken up the issue.

Late Friday, the U.N. Security Council called on Hifter to pull back his forces, warning that further advances would jeopardize any hopes for stability in Libya. “There can be no military solution to the conflict,” said Germany’s U.N. Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, the president of the council, reading a statement from the body.

Read more

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Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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2019-04-06 17:48:45Z
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Libya: Air raids target Haftar's advancing forces near Tripoli - Aljazeera.com

Fighter jets for Libya's UN-backed government in Tripoli have targeted forces under the command of renegade General Khalifa Haftar, in a bid to halt his military assault on the capital that threatens to further destabilise the country. 

As clashes continued on the outskirts of Tripoli on Saturday, human rights groups warned of civilians suffering possible abuses if the fighting escalated, joining a chorus of international powers calling for a cessation of all hostilities.

Haftar's self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) said in a statement on Saturday it was carrying out an operation to secure Tripoli's former international airport, which sits some 30km south of the city, and would later use it as a launching point for missions aimed at seizing key sites within the capital.

The statement came two days after Haftar ordered the eastern forces to march on Tripoli, which is controlled by the United Nations-backed Government of National Accord (GNA) and protected by an array of militias.

The LNA is allied to a parallel administration based in the east of the oil-rich North African country.

'Sporadic fighting' 

Al Jazeera's Mahmoud Abdelwahed, reporting from Tripoli, said there were conflicting reports regarding the LNA's possible capture of the former airport, with the GNA claiming they had recaptured the site.

Abdelwahed said the site and a clutch of other nearby neighbourhoods were "witnessing military deployments and sporadic fighting", accounting for one of four "major confrontation" zones.

"These areas are on the southern outskirts of Tripoli, near the western gate of Tripoli … and two major frontlines in the west of Libya," Abdelwahed said, adding clashes could erupt in each of the locations "at any time".

The LNA's move on Tripoli has escalated a power struggle that has splintered Libya into a patchwork of competing power bases since the overthrow of former leader Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

In response to Haftar's drive, the GNA has authorised air attacks against "any military activities by [LNA] forces trying to enter the capital", Abdelwahed said.

Pro-GNA forces have amassed in Tripoli in a bid to push-back the LNA offensive, with military units and detachments arriving from cities such Misrata and Zawiya, he added.

As fresh fighting flared south of Tripoli, LNA forces said they had been targeted by an air raid.

"We strongly condemn the air raid ... in the al-Aziziya region" by a jet, which had taken off from western Misrata, said the media office of the eastern forces.

UN pushes for reconciliation conference

Amid the escalating tension, an array of international leaders and organisations have called for all parties to put an end to the ongoing conflict and instead focus their efforts on establishing a roadmap towards elections to resolve Libya's prolonged instability.

On Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply concerned" over the possibility of "bloody confrontation in and around Tripoli".

"The UN is committed to facilitating a political solution and, whatever happens, the UN is committed to supporting the Libyan people," Guterres said.

Guterres's comments came as he wrapped up a visit to Libya, aimed at helping organise a national reconciliation conference planned for later this month.

UN envoy to Libya Ghassan Salame, who is set to meet on Saturday in Tripoli GNA head Fayez al-Sarraj, said he was determined that the conference scheduled for April 14-16 would be held on time.

World leaders call for de-escalation

In a statement on Saturday, Human Rights Watch warned that civilians could be caught in the middle of fighting.

"Armed groups loyal to both sides have a record of abusing civilians," the rights group said, adding that LNA fighters "have a well-documented record of indiscriminate attacks on civilians, summary executions of captured fighters, and arbitrary detention".

It statement noted that militias affiliated with the GNA and based in western Libya "also have a record of abuses against civilians".

Amid growing international alarm, the Group of Seven (G7) - a bloc comprised of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan the United Kingdom and the United States - issued a statement on Friday saying there was "no military solution to the Libyan conflict".

"We strongly oppose any military action in Libya. Any Libyan actor or faction that precipitates further civil conflict are harming innocent people and standing in the way of the peace that Libyans deserve," it added.

Meanwhile, after a closed-door emergency meeting in New York, the UN Security Council called on Haftar's forces to halt their advance and warned that those responsible for re-igniting conflict would be held responsible.

The appeal was unanimously backed by the council, including Russia, which has previously supported the 75-year-old.

The council "called on LNA forces to halt all military movements" and "on all forces to de-escalate military activity", said German Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, who holds the council's presidency.

Haftar, who casts himself as a foe of extremism but is viewed by opponents as a new authoritarian leader in the mould of Gaddafi, has vowed to continue his offensive until Libya is "cleansed" of "terrorism".

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2019-04-06 15:31:00Z
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Rwanda genocide remembered 25 years later - ABC News

Remembrance ceremonies began around the world this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide.

For nearly 100 days in 1994, the Hutu majority in this small central African nation launched a purge against the Tutsi minority. The violence began after a plane carrying Rwanda’s Hutu president, Juvenal Habyarimana, was shot down by unknown assassins.

Violence spread rapidly across the country. The number of those who perished in the mayhem is estimated to be more than 800,000, according to the United Nations. Thousands more were maimed and injured.

The ruling Hutu majority at the time was held responsible for organizing the call for mass murder of its fellow citizens, using radio stations to spread the word. Philip Gourevitch, a journalist who reported on the genocide, wrote, “the entire Hutu population was called upon to kill the entire Tutsi population.”

Hutus turned on their neighbors with machetes and knifes, and corpses by the thousands were dumped in rivers or left in mass graves.

U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres said this week that these 100 days were some of the darkest chapters in recent human history, and warned that current trends towards xenophobia and racism are danger signs.

"Wherever they occur, hate speech and incitement to violence should be identified, confronted and stopped to prevent them leading, as they have in the past, to hate crimes and genocide," Guterres said. "This is the best way to honor those who lost their lives so tragically in Rwanda 25 years ago."

(Jean-marc Bouju/AP, FILE) Rwandan refugee children plead with Zairean soldiers to allow them across a bridge separating Rwanda and Zaire where their mothers had crossed moments earlier before the soldiers closed the border, in Zaire, now known as Congo, Aug. 20, 1994.

Visitors to Kigali, the Rwandan capital, now flock to a somber museum dedicated to genocide where photos and videos of the terror that swept through Rwanda are shown alongside testimonies from survivors. Thousands of visitors each week come to pay their respects to the 250,000 who are buried on the grounds, and honor the memory of the hundreds of thousands of others killed.

But on another quiet street of the city, work continues for the Rwanda Genocide Fugitive Tracking Unit (GFTU). Formed in 2007, this team of local and international investigators continues to probe the origins of the genocide and works to bring surviving perpetrators to justice.

Many high-profile cases were prosecuted at the U.N.-supported International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, which was based in Tanzania but closed in 2015. Others suspected of involvement were tried in Rwandan courts. According to the Rwandan National Public Prosecution Authority, nearly 2 million people were charged -- two thirds of them convicted.

(Jean-marc Bouju/AP, FILE) FILE - In this Dec. 19, 1996, file photo, tens of thousands of Rwandan refugees, who have been forced by the Tanzanian authorities to return to their country despite fears they will be killed upon their return, stream back towards the Rwandan border on a road in Tanzania. (AP Photo/Jean-Marc Bouju, File)

Yet, many key suspects are still on the run according to the GFTU. They are reportedly hiding in Europe and other African countries. One of the alleged financiers of the attack was recently spotted in Kenya.

(MORE: May 5, 1994: Exodus From Rwanda)

The U.N., the U.S. and former colonial power Belgium were heavily criticized for doing too little too late to stop the genocide. U.N. peacekeeping troops were not authorized to fully intervene in preventing the bloodshed. In April 2000, on the sixth anniversary of the genocide, the U.N. Security Council publicly admitted that the U.N. should accept some blame for failing to prevent what happened.

Former President Clinton has called the failure to intervene in Rwanda one of his biggest regrets.

(MORE: Bill Clinton's 'Lifetime Responsibility' to Rwanda)

"I do feel a lifetime responsibility," he told ABC News in 2008, while on a trip to the country. "I feel like a lot of people … had something to do with it."

In further interviews in 2013, Clinton said he believes that had the U.S. intervened, even marginally, at the beginning of the genocide, at least 300,000 people might have been saved.

Rwanda, under President Paul Kagame, has been working on national reconciliation. Kagame, a Tutsi, led fighters in 1994 that ended the fighting. He has been president of the country since 2000.

When the Tutsis regained control of Rwanda after the genocide, a large-scale exodus of Hutus to neighboring countries began. Many eventually returned. Many did face some sort of justice, which has brought some measure of reconciliation. Now Hutus and Tutsis live side by side in peaceful coexistence, but memories of the genocide are always present.

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2019-04-06 14:21:14Z
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Showdown of world powers in Venezuela enters dangerous, new phase - CNBC

The first major showdown of our new era of great power competition, unfolding with accelerating speed over the past ten weeks in Venezuela, has entered a dangerous new phase. That is true, most of all, for the Venezuelan people, but also for Latin American democracies and for vital US interests in the Western Hemisphere.

How this drama turns out may mark the most significant test yet of the Trump administration's credibility, following a highest-level chorus this week of President Donald Trump, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton, who all declared – in one way or another – that Russia had to get out of the country.

Vice President Mike Pence ratcheted up the pressure further on Friday, announcing at a speech in Houston with new sanctions on the state-owned oil company PDVSA as well as two additional companies that transport Venezuelan crude to Cuba. Pence, who will address the UN Security Council next week on Venezuela, also said the US would increase its pressure on Cuba.

What raised the stakes was Russia's well-publicized and provocative move on March 23 to land two planes with some 100 soldiers in Caracas. The ostensible reason for their arrival was to service Venezuela's Russian-made S-300 air defense systems, which are said to have been damaged in recent energy blackouts. Other Russian military contractors and mercenaries are already believed to be providing security support for the Maduro regime.

That was accompanied by this week's decision of Maduro's puppet National Constituent Assembly to strip interim President Juan Guaidó of his immunity. Guaidó assumed power under a constitutional provision which stipulates that in the absence of a legitimately elected President, the President of the National Assembly takes up presidential powers on an interim basis. That raises the possibility, perhaps as early as this weekend, that the Maduro regime could arrest and imprison Guaidó – with widespread, anti-Maduro and pro-democracy protests expected for Saturday.

What concerns US officials is that Vladimir Putin may be laying the ground for making Venezuela the defining foreign policy debacle for President Trump in the same way Syria became that for the Obama administration. Indeed, this week the Maduro and Assad regimes showcased their solidarity in Damascus, where Maduro Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza met with the Syrian leader. "The two Syrian and Venezuelan peoples' fight against U.S. conspiracies and imperialism and the two will emerge victorious," Arreaza said.

Though there is a great deal that differentiates Venezuela and Syria, what connects them is considerable: a weakened dictator, who would be much more likely to fall without Moscow's support, a U.S. declared red-line that the Kremlin finds unconvincing, and a chance for Putin to shore up his global reputation at the expense of Washington –this time in the Western Hemisphere.

White House National Security Adviser John Bolton laid down a tough line, with echoes of the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, with his warning to Moscow: "We strongly caution actors external to the Western Hemisphere against deploying military assets to Venezuela, or elsewhere in the Hemisphere, with the intent of establishing or expanding military operations. We will consider such provocative actions as a direct threat to international peace and security in the region."

Exactly one month ago, I wrote in this space, "As the country with the world's largest proven oil reserves and one of its greatest humanitarian disasters, Venezuela is a place whose destiny in any case would have had outsized consequences for Latin American and global energy markets. Given the involvement of the U.S. and its democratic allies on the one side and China, Russia and Cuba on the other, the stakes are even higher geopolitically."

As is so often the case in the Trump administration, there is also a personal element for a president who has refrained from the tough language toward Putin and Russia employed by the top US officials around him. Writes David Sanger in the New York Times, "Would Venezuela be the place where Mr. Trump, who has often seemed willing to tolerate Mr. Putin's most audacious provocations, finally draws his own red line? And if so, does he have a plan to enforce it?"

Putin is betting big that Trump has neither the will nor the plan.

It was by coincidence that the situation around Venezuela was heating up even as the NATO alliance marked its 70^th anniversary in Washington, DC, this week. Amid the celebration, however, experts raised new questions over whether the alliance was sufficiently equipped for the long period of strategic geopolitical competition that likely stands before us.

"NATO is the most successful Alliance in history because we have always been able to change as the world changes," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said before a Joint Session of Congress, the first time any leader of a multilateral organization has been invited to give such an address.

Yet if the consensus is right that the 21^st century's great challenge would be a competition between democratic and authoritarian countries and systems, and in particular China and Russia, then Russia is making the next play in our hemisphere, and NATO is already behind the curve.

"…the United States should lead a more concerted effort to thicken the political bonds and operational ties between NATO and its global partners," said the Atlantic Council's Damon Wilson in testimony before a subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "Specifically, the United States should consider formalizing the links among US treaty allies in Europe and those in Asia, namely Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. At the same time, we should begin fostering alliance-like links among our existing allies with strategic partners such as India and, in Latin America, Colombia, Brazil and Mexico."

He sees all that as a possible precursor "to a more formal alliance among democracies who are committed to protecting their way of life and a democratic international order."

There are plenty of reasons to think such ambitions are fanciful when President Trump remains ambivalent about the value of alliances, NATO's European members are so divided on how to manage relations with China and when only a minority of Europe's NATO members have risen to their promised defense spending obligations.

Yet NATO has learned over the years that the alternative to changing when the world changes is irrelevance – and a world whose guiding rules and principles would no longer be shaped by democracies. Venezuela may be the right place to catalyze deeper links among the United States, Canada, key European allies and leading democracies of Latin America.

Frederick Kempe is a best-selling author, prize-winning journalist and president & CEO of the Atlantic Council, one of the United States' most influential think tanks on global affairs. He worked at The Wall Street Journal for more than 25 years as a foreign correspondent, assistant managing editor and as the longest-serving editor of the paper's European edition. His latest book – "Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth" – was a New York Times best-seller and has been published in more than a dozen languages. Follow him on Twitter @FredKempe and subscribe here to Inflection Points, his look each Saturday at the past week's top stories and trends.

For more insight from CNBC contributors, follow @CNBCopinion on Twitter.

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2019-04-06 11:00:08Z
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Libya: Haftar's 'ultimate goal' and the fear of a full-blown war - Aljazeera.com

Forces loyal to Libya's renegade General Khalifa Haftar are marching in the capital, Tripoli, igniting fears of renewed war in the chaos-wracked country.

The assault by Haftar's self-proclaimed Libyan National Army (LNA) raised fears of a full-blown battle in Tripoli, the seat of a United Nations-backed government that is protected by an array of militias holding sway over the city's economy and institutions.

Following Haftar's move on Thursday, the Tripoli-allied militias mobilised for "war" by deploying troops and moving weapons from the coastal towns of Misrata and Zawiya to areas around the capital.

As skirmishes broke out near Tripoli on Friday, Antonio Guterres, the UN chief who was in the capital to help organise a conference aimed at hammering out a plan for elections, headed to the eastern city of Benghazi to meet Haftar.

But he wrote on Twitter later in the day: "I leave Libya with a heavy heart and deeply concerned. I still hope it is possible to avoid a bloody confrontation in and around Tripoli."

The escalation threatens to undermine UN-led efforts to bring stability to a country that has for years been split between the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east allied to Haftar.

The 75-year-old former army officer's rise, including advances on strategic oil fields and port cities, has come on the back of support by countries such as neighbouring Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. He has portrayed himself as the only solution for Libya's instability, but many in the country fear he could try to reinstate authoritarian rule.

Haftar's rise

After decades of exile in the United States, Haftar returned to Libya in 2011 to take part in the uprising against longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi. In the years that followed Gaddafi's removal and killing, various armed groups vied for control in of the oil-rich country. 

Amidst the chaos, Haftar launched in 2014 Operation Dignity to "cleanse" the country of what he called "terrorist" militias.

In July 2017, Haftar said his forces had seized Benghazi after a bloody three-year battle. Last year, the LNA gained control of Derna, the last bastion of opposition against Haftar in the east of the country.

Then in January this year, he launched a new offensive into oil-rich Fezzan in Libya's south-west. The LNA made deals with the local tribes and overran the region without a major fight.

Haftar's "ultimate goal when he went into Fezzan was to take Tripoli", said Jalel Harchaoui, a research fellow at the Netherlands-based Clingendael Institute.

"You cannot rule Libya unless you control Tripoli. Because all the money, diplomatic missions and most of the population is there - everything is concentrated there."

Haftar, right, meets Guterres in the eastern city of Benghazi [AFP]

Stunned by LNA's southern advance, the UN scrambled to mediate between Haftar and Fayez al-Serraj, the head of the GNA. The pair met in Abu Dhabi in February, and the UN said they had agreed to hold elections by the end of the year.

In March, the UN's mission in Libya announced that a national conference would be held on April 14-16 to discuss a timetable for long-delayed elections and unify the country.

Harchaoui said Haftar agreed to the election plan to buy more time for his long-promised offensive on Tripoli.

"Haftar used UN diplomacy to make military progress. His aim is to change the facts on the ground to his political advantage." 

'Tide is turning'

Speaking from Benghazi in eastern Libya, Mansour El-Kikhia, a professor at the University of Texas, argued that Haftar was likely to succeed in his Tripoli push.

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"It's a foregone conclusion that Haftar will take over Tripoli and end the reign of the militias," he claimed.

"Even the residents of Tripoli are sick and tired of the status quo. It's not because of a love for Haftar. It's a desire for peace, quiet and normalcy. As things stand today, it's a mess. The militias are kleptomaniacs. They loot the country's wealth while people are going hungry."

Describing the armed groups allied to Tripoli as "kids with guns", El-Kikhia said they were no match for Haftar's estimated 25,000 forces, who "are well trained and hardened after four years of fighting against 'terrorists'."

But other analysts disagreed.

When asked if Haftar was likely to succeed, Saleh El Bakkoush, a Tripoli-based political analyst, replied: "Absolutely not."

Noting that forces supporting the Tripoli-based government captured on Friday more than 140 LNA-backed troops at a checkpoint some 30km west of the capital, El Bakkoush said: "There's great excitement among the GNA-allied troops … The tide is turning."

Fayez al-Sarraj, the head of GNA, visits military and security commanders [Mahmud Turkia/ AFP]

'Little room for de-escalation'

Emad Badi, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, said that unlike the tribal groups Haftar subsumed in the south, the militias in and around Tripoli were likely to put up resistance.

"They see Haftar's attack as an existential threat," Badi said from the British capital, London. "The military forces in the west have a vested interest in continuing to exist, because that leads to them having some sort of benefit, whether money wise or through illegal means of rent-seeking."

Libya Quartet meets in Tunis to reconcile warring factions (3:00)

Harchaoui said residents in the west of the country "don't care about liberal democracy as much as they did eight years ago.

"But compared to the rest of Libya, there is still a decent percentage of people there who have no interest in the authoritarian model Haftar promises."

As foreign countries expressed growing alarm over the potential of renewed conflict, analysts underlined the importance of the response from Misrata, a wealthy city east of the capital and home to nearly half a million people and some of the most powerful militias backing the GNA.

On Friday, Tripoli-allied forces reportedly moved troops and machine gun-mounted vehicles from Misrata to the capital, vowing to repel Haftar's assault on the city.

"Misrata will resist," said Harchaoui.

But El-Kikhia disagreed: "They aren't going to fight him if they can avoid it. They will lose."

Meanwhile, Badi, at the Middle East Institute, said that "open conflict" was likely to break out in the coming days.

Noting the outcome of Haftar's meeting with Guterres, he said: "There is now very little room for de-escalation. If Haftar's forces do not disengage, there will be open conflict for a while."

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2019-04-06 07:56:00Z
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Brexit: Government offers 'no change' to deal, says Labour - BBC News

The government has not proposed any changes to the PM's Brexit deal during cross-party talks, says shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer.

Meetings have been taking place between Tory and Labour politicians to find a proposal to put to the Commons before an emergency EU summit next week.

But Sir Keir said the government was not "countenancing any change" on the wording of the existing plan.

A Downing Street spokesman said: "We have made serious proposals."

The government was "prepared to pursue changes to the political declaration", a plan for the future relationship with the EU, to "deliver a deal that is acceptable to both sides", the spokesman said.

Sir Keir said the government's approach was "disappointing", and it would not consider any changes the "actual wording" of the political declaration. "Compromise requires change," he said.

"We want the talks to continue and we've written in those terms to the government, but we do need change if we're going to compromise."

The UK is currently due to leave the EU on 12 April and, as yet, no withdrawal deal has been approved by MPs.

Theresa May has written to European Council President Donald Tusk to request an extension to 30 June.

But she says if the Commons agrees a deal in time, the UK should be able to leave before European parliamentary elections on 23 May.

Prisons minister Rory Stewart told BBC Radio 4's PM programme that there were "tensions" but there was "quite a lot of life" left in the talks with Labour.

"In truth the positions of the two parties are very, very close and where there's goodwill it should be possible to get this done and get it done relatively quickly," he said.

He insisted that "of course we are prepared to compromise" on the political declaration.

BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg said: "The sense is that the government has only offered clarifications on what might be possible from the existing documents, rather than adjusting any of their actual proposals in the two documents."

She added that both sides agree the talks are not yet over, but there are no firm commitments for when further discussions might take place.

In case no agreement has been reached by 23 May, the prime minister has said the UK would prepare to field candidates in European parliamentary elections.

BBC Europe editor Katya Adler has been told by a senior EU source that European Council President Donald Tusk will propose a 12-month "flexible" extension to Brexit, with the option of cutting it short if the UK Parliament ratifies a deal.

But French President Emmanuel Macron's office said on Friday that it was "premature" to consider another delay.

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2019-04-05 17:54:21Z
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U.S. Strips Visa From Intl. Criminal Court Prosecutor Pursuing War-Crime Inquiry - NPR

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The office of International Criminal Court prosecutor Fatou Bensouda (center) says her visa for U.S. travel has been stripped. The State Department confirmed the move Friday. Koen Van Weel /AFP/Getty Images hide caption

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Koen Van Weel /AFP/Getty Images

The U.S. has revoked the visa of the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, weeks after warning it would take such an action against anyone from the ICC who is investigating allegations that U.S. personnel might have committed war crimes in Afghanistan.

Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda's office confirmed the revocation and, citing the ICC's international mandate, said the prosecutor and her office will continue to pursue their duty "with utmost commitment and professionalism, without fear or favor."

Bensouda has asked the Hague-based court to open a full investigation into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, including any that might have been committed by Americans and Afghan government forces.

The U.S. is not a party to the treaty that created the international court. Instead of joining the organization when it was founded, the U.S. adopted the American Service-Members' Protection Act, which broadly prohibits the U.S. from facilitating any ICC investigation of U.S. or allied service personnel — and which blocks ICC staff from conducting such work inside the U.S.

While the U.S. claims its citizens and military personnel are outside of the ICC's jurisdiction, the court says Afghanistan is within its purview because the country ratified the Rome Statute, which established the court, in early 2003.

"The ICC therefore has jurisdiction over Rome Statute crimes committed on the territory of Afghanistan or by its nationals from 1 May 2003 onwards," the court said in its summary of a preliminary examination in 2013.

A State Department official confirmed that Bensouda's visa was revoked Friday but provided few other details, citing confidentiality rules around visa records. Instead, the official reiterated that the U.S. will protect its personnel from "unjust investigation and prosecution."

Last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — who had previously criticized the ICC and other international organizations — announced the U.S. would deny visas to ICC staff who are found to be directly involved in any investigation into U.S. or allied personnel.

On Friday, the State Department official clarified that Bensouda and other ICC officials whose visas are revoked would still be able to travel to the U.S. — but only to visit the U.N.

"The prosecutor will have to travel to New York," Teri Schultz reports for NPR, "as she gives regular briefings to the U.N. Security Council, including on investigations which the U.S., as a permanent member of the council, has requested. There's a special diplomatic visa available for such occasions, for which she'll now have to apply."

When the ICC prosecutor's office asked the court's pretrial chamber to authorize an investigation in late 2017, it noted the prolonged and violent conflicts that have played out in Afghanistan, with the Taliban and its allies clashing with pro-government forces — and citizens often caught in the middle.

The 2017 report cited allegations of war crimes committed by the Taliban and its affiliates. It also said there was "a reasonable basis to believe that members of the United States of America ('US') armed forces and members of the Central Intelligence Agency ('CIA') committed acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence against conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan and other locations, principally in the 2003-2004 period."

In that report, the prosecutor's office said it was spurred to investigate, because it seems that the U.S. is not mounting "national investigations or prosecutions," despite what it called " unprecedented details of the interrogations."

When the U.S. Congress approved the American Service Members Protection Act in 2002, it set the legal framework for denying support to the ICC's investigations. The law's language — which authorizes the president to use "all means necessary" to free any American held by the tribunal — also prompted its critics to name it "The Hague Invasion Act."

Reporter Teri Schultz and NPR's Michele Kelemen contributed to this story.

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https://www.npr.org/2019/04/05/710324238/u-s-strips-visa-from-intl-criminal-court-prosecutor-pursuing-war-crime-inquiry

2019-04-05 18:36:00Z
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