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South Carolina father accused of letting 1-year-old daughter burn to death while fleeing cops after highway chase

A South Carolina father is being accused by police of letting his 1-year-old daughter burn to death inside the back of his flaming vehicle while trying to flee officers on foot after a highway chase.

Imhotep Osiris Norman, 26, of Spartanburg, is now facing a homicide by child abuse charge stemming from the incidents alleged to have unfolded Friday. If convicted on the felony charge, he could be sentenced anywhere from 20 years to life in prison, The State newspaper reports.

The South Carolina Highway Patrol says officers first attempted to pull over Norman at around 10 p.m. in Greenville County after he was clocked doing 67 mph in a 45 mph zone. When Norman reportedly failed to stop, they gave chase and noticed that smoke and sparks were coming from his vehicle while it was barreling along Interstate-85.

The car eventually caught fire and Norman abandoned it, taking off on foot, according to Fox Carolina.

Police are accusing Imhotep Osiris Norman of leaving his 1-year-old daughter to die in the back of his flaming car while trying to flee officers following a highway chase.

Police are accusing Imhotep Osiris Norman of leaving his 1-year-old daughter to die in the back of his flaming car while trying to flee officers following a highway chase. (Spartanburg County Detention Center)

The station reported firefighters who arrived on-scene shortly afterward extinguished the blaze and found the body of a toddler in the car’s back seat. Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger identified the victim as Xena Rah'Lah Norman, the suspect’s 1-year-old daughter.

Norman later was tracked down and arrested by police, and a bag that he allegedly threw out of his car’s window during the pursuit was found to contain illegal drugs, Fox Carolina reported.

During a court hearing Saturday, in which Norman was denied bond, he claimed his car was out of control and that it “wasn’t on fire” when he got out of it.

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“It was going by itself,” Norman told a judge. “I couldn’t hit the gas or the brakes or anything anymore. When I hit the brakes in it, I just kept going the same amount of speed."

“I just know that the car wasn’t on fire when I got out the car,” he added, also saying “if I couldn’t get my daughter out of that car I wouldn’t have got out."

Source: Fox News National

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Dozens killed in fire at Cairo train station triggered by fuel tank explosion on speeding train

An Egyptian medical official said Wednesday that 25 people were killed and at least 50 were injured when a major fire erupted at the main train station in Cairo.

Mohammed Said, the head of the Cairo Railroad hospital, said the death toll is expected to rise.

The fire is said to have been triggered by a fuel tank explosion on a speeding train headed into the Ramsis station in downtown Cairo. Several witnesses said they saw fire coming out of the train's engine before it crashed.

"I was standing on the platform and I saw the train speed into the barrier,” eyewitness Mina Ghaly told Reuters. “Everyone started running but a lot of people died after the locomotive exploded. I saw at least nine corpses lying on the ground, charred.”

People gather around a suitcase after a train crash inside Ramsis train station in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019.  (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

People gather around a suitcase after a train crash inside Ramsis train station in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019.  (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 2 POLICE BY FAMED CAIRO TOURIST MARKET

Ibrahim Hussein, an eyewitness also told Reuters: “I saw a man pointing from the locomotive as it entered the platform, and screaming ‘There are no brakes, there are no brakes’ before he jumped out of the locomotive. And I don’t know what happened to him.”

Ahmed Abdeltawab said the platform had been crowded with people waiting for another train when "fire overwhelmed them and they ran while they were on fire until they fell meters from the incident."

AMTRAK TRAIN WITH 183 PASSENGERS IS MOVING AFTER BEING STUCK FOR 36 HOURS IN OREGON

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli visited the chaotic scene and said the cause of the collision had not been determined.

"We will identify who is responsible for the accident and they will be held accountable," he told the BBC.

People gather outside Ramsis train station in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

People gather outside Ramsis train station in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2019. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

The country's general prosecutor, Nabil Sadek, has ordered an investigation into the deadly crash. Egypt has one of the oldest rail networks in the region, with accidents causing casualties being fairly common. All train departures and arrivals to the station have been suspended.

Ali Ramadan told Reuters he suffered burns and injured his foot when he ran into a concrete bench on the platform.

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“I don’t know when these train accidents will end ... They told us they got millions of dollars’ worth of new locomotives and trains, and people are still dying because of train accidents.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Source: Fox News World

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500 evacuated in fire at Singapore hotel; no injuries

Officials say about 500 people were evacuated during a fire at a luxury hotel in Singapore, but there were no reports of injuries.

Smoke billowed out of the Grand Hyatt hotel in the Orchard Road shopping district. Guests, passers-by and staff, including some wearing chef hats, gasped as they watched from a distance away.

The Singapore Civil Defense Force said the fire started in the kitchen of a restaurant on the hotel's second floor. It said water sprinklers extinguished the blaze before firefighters arrived.

"There were no reported injuries. The cause of the fire is under investigation," it said.

Last month, about 1,000 guests and staff were evacuated when a switch room caught fire at another Singapore hotel. There were no injuries.

Source: Fox News World

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NFL notebook: Chiefs WR Hill won’t be charged

NFL: NFL Honors-Red Carpet
Feb 2, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; Tyreek Hill during red carpet arrivals for the NFL Honors show at the Fox Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

April 25, 2019

The Johnson County (Kan.) district attorney’s office announced Wednesday it will not file charges against Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyreek Hill or his fiancee following an investigation into two March incidents at the couple’s home involving their 3-year-old son.

“We believe a crime has occurred,” District Attorney Stephen Howe said. “However, the evidence in this case does not conclusively establish who committed this crime.”

Howe added the criminal investigation has been closed, although the child protection investigation is continuing. Any new information to emerge could reopen the criminal investigation, with a five-year statute of limitations in Kansas.

Authorities had been investigating incidents — one on March 5 for child abuse and neglect, and one on March 14 for battery — at Hill’s home in Overland Park, Kan. Both police reports indicated a juvenile was involved.

–The Pittsburgh Steelers and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger agreed to a two-year contract extension.

“I know Ben’s focus is on only one goal — to bring another Lombardi trophy back to Pittsburgh,” team president Art Rooney II said in a statement. “We are excited to finalize this new contract that will keep him as a Steeler through the 2021 season.”

ESPN reports the deal is worth $80 million in total over three years, with a $37.5 million signing bonus and $67.5 million guaranteed. The 37-year-old was previously due $12 million base salary for 2019, and he got a $5 million roster bonus last month.

–Oakland Raiders running back Marshawn Lynch plans to retire for a second time, according to a report by ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Lynch, who turned 33 on Monday, played the past two seasons for his hometown Raiders after sitting out the 2016 season. He rushed for 376 yards on 90 carries in six games in 2018 before sustaining a season-ending groin/core muscle injury in Week 6.

Lynch has rushed for 10,379 yards on 2,441 carries (4.3-yard average) and 84 touchdowns for the Raiders, Seattle Seahawks and Buffalo Bills in his career.

–Denver Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. said he is open to remaining with the team he signed with as an undrafted rookie in 2011, a day after taking a pay-me-or-trade-me stance.

“I want to be here, so we can salvage it,” Harris told 9News Denver. In a separate interview with The Athletic, he added, “I’m still open to coming back. I’m never closing that door until they close it.”

Multiple reports emerged late Tuesday night that Harris’ agent told the Broncos his client would like a new contract or to be traded. According to 9News Denver, Harris is seeking an annual salary of at least $15 million, which would equal the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback, Josh Norman.

–The Baltimore Ravens met with former Detroit Lions defensive end Ezekiel “Ziggy” Ansah.

Ansah, who turns 30 next month, is recovering from shoulder surgery after missing nine games last season, which has slowed his free agent market.

NFL Network reported that Ansah visited expert Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Monday and drew positive reviews, with the expectation he’ll be cleared by mid-August.

–The Ravens signed Justin Tucker to a four-year extension that makes him the highest-paid kicker in NFL history.

The contract keeps Tucker in Baltimore through the 2023 season and is worth $23.05 million, with $12.5 million guaranteed in the first two years and an $8 million signing bonus, ESPN reported.

–The NFL warned Jacksonville Jaguars football czar Tom Coughlin that future comments disapproving of players who don’t attend voluntary offseason workouts could result in league discipline, ESPN reported.

The NFL Players Association had asked the league to remind the Jaguars that players should not be pressured to attend the workouts, ESPN said.

–Kelly Stafford checked herself back into the hospital because of pain following brain surgery.

The wife of Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford posted on Instagram that she needed medical help to cope with headaches and other side effects. She had a 12-hour operation last week to remove a brain tumor and returned home Sunday.

–Veteran defensive end Brian Robison announced his retirement after signing a one-day contract with the Minnesota Vikings.

Robison, who turns 36 on Saturday and did not play in 2018, played in 173 games in 11 seasons with the Vikings from 2007-17, totaling 60 sacks.

–The Washington Redskins re-signed offensive lineman Tony Bergstrom.

Bergstrom, 32, played in 13 games (eight starts) at center and guard last season.

–The Ravens will have a blind 13-year-old fan announce a fourth-round pick during this week’s draft by reading off of a card written in Braille.

Mo Gaba, who is battling cancer and lost his vision at nine months old, will become the first person ever to announce an NFL draft pick off a Braille card.

–Field Level Media

Source: OANN

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Golf: Oh brother, mind the stairs – another Johnson takes a tumble

FILE PHOTO: Dustin Johnson of the U.S. stands on the putting green before withdrawing from the 2017 Masters in Augusta
FILE PHOTO: Dustin Johnson of the U.S. and his caddie Austin Johnson stand on the putting green shortly before Dustin Johnson withdrew from play due to injury during the first round of the 2017 Masters golf tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, U.S., April 6, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

March 20, 2019

(Reuters) – Nearly two years after Dustin Johnson was knocked out of the Masters when he injured his back slipping on stairs on the tournament’s eve, his caddie and brother Austin has broken a bone in his hand in a similar mishap.

Austin suffered the injury while packing up on Sunday night at the rental house where the brothers were staying at the Players Championship in Florida, world number one Dustin told reporters.

“He had a bit of a run-in with a pair of stairs, kind of like I did,” Dustin said on Wednesday on the eve of the Valspar Championship in Palm Harbor, Florida.

“Those stairs, man, they’ll get you.”

Austin is not letting the injury prevent him from his professional duties.

He caddied in the pro-am at Innisbrook on Wednesday with his left arm in a sling and a cast on his wrist.

Dustin was the hot favorite at the 2017 Masters, as world number one and coming off the back off three straight victories.

The back injury, which he described as severe bruising, kept him out of action for a month.

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Toby Davis)

Source: OANN

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U.S. made progress in convincing EU on Huawei technology risks: Pompeo

Pompeo testifies in House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo testifies at a House Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the State Department's budget request for 2020 in Washington D.C., U.S. March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Erin Scott

March 27, 2019

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States has made progress in convincing the European Union of the risks in using technology from China’s Huawei and will continue to push them on the issue, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday.

In congressional testimony, Pompeo said he was “hopeful” that the Europeans would move in the U.S. direction on using Huawei equipment. “I think we’ve made progress and I know that we are going to continue to push,” he said. “When you have telecommunications that are deeply connected to state-owned enterprises connected to China, we don’t see there is a technical mitigation risk that is possible.”

Pompeo has warned that the United States will not partner with or share information with countries that adopt Huawei Technologies Co Ltd system.

(Reporting by Lesley Wroughton and Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Susan Thomas)

Source: OANN

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Kamala Harris backtracks, now says criminals like Boston bomber ‘should be deprived’ of right to vote

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., is now backtracking after initially saying “we should have that conversation” about allowing criminals currently in prison -- such as the Boston Marathon bomber -- to vote.

Appearing at a televised town hall event following 2020 Democratic frontrunner Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. -- who made headlines by advocating for voting rights for felons serving time. -- Harris was also asked to weigh in.

“I think we should have that conversation,” Harris told CNN anchor Don Lemon.

GUTFELD ON BERNIE SANDERS LETTING FELONS VOTE FROM PRISON

Well, that conversation appears to have ended.

Sanders had said that those convicted of sexual assault and of crimes like terrorism -- like Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev -- should be able to vote in order for the U.S. to sustain a “vibrant democracy” and to increase voter turnout.

But on Tuesday, while speaking to a press gaggle in New Hampshire, Harris expanded on her remarks at the CNN town hall and gave what her national press secretary Ian Sams called a “thoughtful answer.”

Harris called the issue of allowing felons to vote in prison “complex” and said she was going to “talk to experts” about the matter.

She added that there was “a lot of work to do” regarding 6 million people who are currently in prison without voting rights.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

“Do I think that people who commit murder, people who are terrorists should be deprived of their rights? Yeah, I do. I’m a prosecutor,” Harris said. “There has to be serious consequences for the most extreme types of crimes.”

Also during Monday night’s town hall, Harris joined her colleague, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in calling for President Trump’s impeachment. She also vowed to take executive action on gun control if Congress doesn’t act in her first 100 days in office as president.

Source: Fox News Politics

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FILE PHOTO: Naqvi Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the WEF in Davos
FILE PHOTO: Arif Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive of Abraaj Group attends the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, January 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Tom Arnold

LONDON (Reuters) – A London court case to extradite Arif Naqvi, founder of collapsed private equity firm Abraaj Group, to the United States on fraud charges was adjourned until May 24, a court official said on Friday.

Naqvi was remanded in custody until that date, the official said. A former managing partner of Dubai-based Abraaj, Sev Vettivetpillai, was released on conditional bail to appear again at Westminster Magistrates Court on June 12, the official said.

Under the U.S. charges, both men are accused of defrauding U.S. investors by inflating positions held by Abraaj in order to attract greater funds from them, causing them financial loss, the official said.

Vettivetpillai could not be reached for a comment.

Naqvi, in a statement released through a PR firm, has pleaded innocent.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission alleges that Naqvi and his firm raised money for the Abraaj Growth Markets Health Fund, collecting more than $100 million over three years from U.S.-based charitable organizations and other U.S. investors.

Naqvi and Vettivetpillai were arrested in Britain earlier this month. Another executive, Mustafa Abdel-Wadood was arrested at a New York hotel, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Griswold said at a hearing in Manhattan federal court on April 11.

Abdel-Wadood appeared at the Manhattan hearing and pleaded not guilty to securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy charges.

(Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: OANN

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Former Vice President Joe Biden announces his 2020 candidacy
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden announces his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination in this still image taken from a video released April 25, 2019. BIDEN CAMPAIGN HANDOUT via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS – THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

April 26, 2019

By James Oliphant

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, in his first interview as a Democratic presidential candidate, said on Friday that he does not believe he treated law professor Anita Hill badly during the 1991 confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

Biden had joined the burgeoning 2020 Democratic field a day earlier.

Biden’s conduct during those hearings, when he was chairman of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, became a renewed subject of controversy after the New York Times reported that Biden had called Hill earlier this month in the run-up to his presidential bid and that Hill was dissatisfied with Biden’s expression of regret.

Appearing on ABC’s “The View,” Biden largely defended his actions as a senator almost 30 years ago, saying he believed Hill’s allegations of sexual harassment levied at Thomas and tried to derail his confirmation.

Activists have long been unhappy that Hill was questioned in graphic detail by the all-white, all-male committee chaired by Biden.

“I’m sorry she was treated the way she was treated,” Biden said, but later, he asserted, “I don’t think I treated her badly. … How do you stop people from asking inflammatory questions?”

“There were a lot of mistakes made across the board and for those I apologize,” he said.

Biden praised Hill as “remarkable” and said she is “one of the reasons we have the #MeToo movement.”

Asked why he had not reached out to Hill earlier, Biden said he had previously publicly stated he had regrets about her treatment and that he “didn’t want to quote invade her space.”

That seemed to be a reference to another controversy that looms over Biden’s presidential run: allegations by several women that he made them uncomfortable by touching them at political events.

Biden also addressed that criticism, saying he was now more “cognizant” about a woman’s “private space.” But he maintained that he had been “trying to bring solace.”

He suggested he was still trying to sort out the guidelines for his conduct going forward.

“I should be able to read better,” he said. “I have to be more careful.”

Pressed by the show’s panel for an apology to his accusers, Biden would not entirely capitulate.

“So, I invaded your space,” he replied. “I mean, I’m sorry this happened. But I’m not sorry in a sense that I think I did anything that was intentionally designed to do anything wrong or be inappropriate.”

Biden, 76, served as former President Barack Obama’s vice president for two terms. He is competing with 19 others for the Democratic presidential nomination and the chance to likely face President Donald Trump next year in the general election.

His first public event as a presidential candidate is scheduled for Monday in Pittsburgh.

(Reporting by James Oliphant; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Tesla is seen in Taipei, Taiwan August 11, 2017. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

April 26, 2019

By Noel Randewich

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Tesla Inc’s stock slumped over 4% on Friday to its lowest price in two years, rounding out a rough week that included worse-than-expected quarterly results and a pitch by Chief Executive Elon Musk on autonomous cars that failed to win over investors.

With investors betting Tesla will soon raise capital, the stock has fallen 13% for the week to its lowest level since January 2017, before the launch of the Model 3 sedan aimed at making the electric car maker profitable.

One positive development for Tesla: a U.S. District Court judge on Friday granted a request by Musk and the Securities and Exchange Commission for a second extension to resolve a dispute over Musk’s use of Twitter.

On Wednesday, Tesla posted a worse-than-expected loss of $702 million for the March quarter. Musk said Tesla would return to profit in the third quarter and that there was “some merit” to raising capital.

Musk is still battling to convince investors that demand for the Model 3, the company’s first car aimed at the mass consumer market, is “insanely” high, and that it can be delivered efficiently to customers around the world.

Tesla ended its first quarter with $2.2 billion, down from $3.7 billion in the prior quarter, and the company is planning expansions including a Shanghai factory, an upcoming Model Y SUV, and other projects.

(GRAPHIC: Tesla’s cash – https://tmsnrt.rs/2DyJjX6)

On Monday, Musk hosted a self-driving event, where he predicted Tesla would have over a million autonomous vehicles by next year. Some analysts perceived the presentation as a way to deflect attention from questions about demand, margin pressure, increasing competition and even Musk’s ongoing battle with U.S. regulators.

Tesla’s stock has now fallen 29 percent in 2019 and the company’s market capitalization has declined to $41 billion from $63 billion in mid-December.

(GRAPHIC: Tesla’s declining market cap – https://tmsnrt.rs/2Dwd62r)

Analysts now expect Tesla’s revenue to expand 19% in 2019, compared with 83% growth in 2018 and 68% growth in 2017, according to Refinitiv.

Following Tesla’s quarterly report, 12 analysts recommend selling the stock, while 11 recommend buying and eight are neutral. The median analyst price target is $275, up 16% from the stock’s current price of $236. Berenberg analyst Alexander Haissl has the most optimistic price target, at $500, while Cowen and Company’s Jeffrey Osborne has the lowest, at $160, according to Refinitiv.

(Reporting by Noel Randewich; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

Source: OANN

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Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee said Friday that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s rare public criticism of the Obama administration was a “soft” way of accusing the previous administration of covering up Russia’s attempts at hacking the 2016 presidential election.

While speaking Thursday in New York at the Public Servants Dinner of the Armenian Bar Association, Rosenstein said that the Obama administration “chose not to publicize the full story about Russian computer hackers and social media trolls and how they relate to Russia’s broader strategy to undermine America.”

During an appearance on “America’s Newsroom” Friday morning, Huckabee called the comments an “unusually candid moment for Rosenstein.”

“I thought it was a soft way of him saying there was a cover-up,” Huckabee said. “They knew the Russians were attempting to influence the election and attempting to hack the election but they didn’t fully disclose that to the American people and certainly didn’t disclose it to the Trump campaign.

SWALWELL NOT CERTAIN TRUMP ISN’T A ‘RUSSIAN ASSET’

“Instead they tried to set a trap for them. It failed. The Trump team did not take the bait. And that’s the one conclusion that we can certainly come away with from the $35 million worth of investigation,” Huckabee continued.

Next week, Attorney General William Barr will testify before Congress and is expected to answer questions about Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of President Trump, which found that there was not adequate evidence to conclude that President Trump and his administration colluded with Russia, though the president could not be exonerated in terms of the possibility that he obstructed justice.

Barr will testify to the Senate Judiciary Committee next Wednesday and to the House Judiciary Committee the following day.

TRUMP ASSESSES 2020 DEMS; TAKES SWIPES AT BIDEN, SANDERS; DISMISSES HARRIS, O’ROURKE; SAYS HE’S ROOTING FOR BUTTIGIEG 

“It is going to be a theater, an absolute show,” Huckabee said of the hearings. “Just like the Kavanaugh hearings were and like everything else is in Congress. We ought to close the curtain on them and can’t come back until after the election. They aren’t doing their job anyway. We aren’t paying them because they’re doing a wonderful service to the country and spare us the hypocrisy of thinking they’re interested in getting to the bottom of the facts,” he continued.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Ultimately, Huckabee argued, if Americans “took their partisan hats off,” they would see that President Trump was exonerated by the investigation.

Source: Fox News Politics

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Sri Lanka's former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake
Sri Lanka’s former defense secretary Gotabaya Rajapaksa greets his supporters after his return from the United States, in Katunayake, Sri Lanka April 12, 2019. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte

April 26, 2019

By Sanjeev Miglani and Shihar Aneez

COLOMBO (Reuters) – Sri Lanka’s former wartime defense chief, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said on Friday he would run for president in elections this year and would stop the spread of Islamist extremism by rebuilding the intelligence service and surveilling citizens.

Gotabaya, as he is popularly known, is the younger brother of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the two led the country to a crushing defeat of separatist Tamil rebels a decade ago after a 26-year civil war.

More than 250 people were killed in bomb attacks on hotels and churches on Easter Sunday that the government has blamed on Islamist militants and that Islamic State has claimed responsibility for.

Gotabaya said the attacks could have been prevented if the island’s current government had not dismantled the intelligence network and extensive surveillance capabilities that he built up during the war and later on.

“Because the government was not prepared, that’s why you see a panic situation,” he said in an interview with Reuters.

Gotabaya said he would be a candidate “100 percent”, firming up months of speculation that he plans to run in the elections, which are due by December.

He was critical of the government’s response to the bombings. Since the attacks, the government has struggled to provide clear information about how they were staged, who was behind them and how serious the threat is from Islamic State to the country.

“Various people are blaming various people, not giving exactly the details as to what happened, even people expect the names, what organization did this, and how they came up to this level, that explanation was not given,” he said.

On Friday, President Maithripala Sirisena said the government led by premier Ranil Wickremesinghe should take responsibility for the attacks and that prior information warning of attacks was not shared with him.

Wickremesinghe said earlier he was not advised about warnings that came from India’s spy service either, presenting a picture of a government still in disarray since the two leaders fell out last October.

Gotabaya is facing lawsuits in the United States, where he is a dual citizen, over his role in the war and afterwards.

The South Africa-based International Truth and Justice Project, in partnership with U.S. law firm Hausfeld, filed a civil case in California this month against Gotabaya on behalf of a Tamil torture survivor.

In a separate case, Ahimsa Wickrematunga, the daughter of murdered investigative editor Lasantha Wickrematunga, filed a complaint for damages in the same U.S. District Court in California for allegedly instigating and authorizing the extrajudicial killing of her father.

Gotabaya said the cases were baseless and only a “little distraction” as he prepared for the election campaign. He said he had asked U.S. authorities to renounce his citizenship and that process was nearly done, clearing the way for his candidature.

‘DISMANTLE THE NETWORKS’

He said that if he won, his immediate focus would to be tackle the threat from radical Islam and to rebuild the security set-up.

“It’s a serious problem, you have to go deep into the groups, dismantle the networks,” he said, adding he would give the military a mandate to collect intelligence from the ground and to mount surveillance of groups turning to extremism.

Gotabaya said that a military intelligence cell he had set up in 2011 of 5,000 people, some of them with Arabic language skills and that was tracking the bent towards extremist ideology some of the Islamist groups were taking in eastern Sri Lanka was disbanded by the current government.

“They did not give priority to national security, there was a mix-up. They were talking about ethnic reconciliation, then they were talking about human rights issues, they were talking about individual freedoms,” he said.

President Sirisena’s government sought to forge reconciliation with minority Tamils and close the wounds of the war and launched investigations into allegations of rights abuse and torture against military officers.

Officials said many of these secret intelligence cells were disbanded because they faced allegations of abuse, including torture and extra judicial killings.

Muslims make up nearly 10 percent of Sri Lanka’s population of 22 million, which is predominantly Buddhist.

(Reporting by Sanjeev Miglani; Editing by Frances Kerry)

Source: OANN

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