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The Paul Manafort Story Isn't Over Yet

The Paul Manafort Story Isn't Over Yet

AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File

The ink was not even beginning to dry on Paul Manafort’s sentencing order in Washington, D.C., when the Manhattan district attorney dropped additional New York state charges on him for mortgage fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy — state crimes that President Trump cannot pardon.

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Dems Ignore Pelosi, Vow To Move Forward With Impeachment Against Trump

House Democrats have vowed to move forward with impeachment proceedings against President Trump despite Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s proclamation against it.

Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Al Green (D-Texas), John Yarmuth (D-Ky.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) all bucked Pelosi, declaring they would push for Trump’s impeachment ahead of the 2020 election regardless of what she said.

“These are really, really serious criminal activity that [Trump] has been allegedly doing out of the Oval Office. That’s something we should be investigating,” Tlaib reportedly said Tuesday.

Yarmuth went further, saying Trump’s impeachment was inevitable and only a matter of time.

“I don’t think right now there’s any way that we could 218 votes on the floor of the House for an impeachment resolution, but I think that’s not a matter of whether, it’s a matter of when,” Yarmuth said.

Socialist AOC expressed disappointment in Pelosi’s comments and hinted that Democrats may ignore her.

“I happen to disagree with that take,” Ocasio-Cortez said in response to Pelosi’s remarks. “But you know, she’s the speaker…I think we’ll see.”

According to Green, Pelosi is putting “political expediency ahead of moral imperative,” which is why he still plans to force articles of impeachment against Trump for the third time.

“There will be another vote on impeachment,” Green said in a C-SPAN interview. “If you desire to stop me, you but only have to change the rules so that I can’t bring a vote on impeachment.”

Waters, who backed Green’s last two impeachment efforts, said Pelosi’s comments were “not new.”

“Everybody knows what I’ve said. Everybody knows that I’ve been for impeachment. None of this is new,” she said.

Pelosi made clear that she had no intention of overseeing impeachment against Trump unless something “overwhelming and bipartisan” surfaces to compel such a move.

“Impeachment is so divisive to the country that unless there’s something so compelling and overwhelming and bipartisan, I don’t think we should go down that path, because it divides the country. And he’s just not worth it,” Pelosi told The Washington Post Monday.

Pelosi tried mitigating the political fallout caused by overzealous Democrats eager to impeach Trump after Democrats regained control of the House in January, such as when Tlaib declared she would “impeach the motherfucker” only days after being sworn into Congress.

But conservative commentators like Rush Limbaugh have said Pelosi is simply delaying impeachment until Trump is reelected in 2020.

Just last week, a Quinnipiac University National Poll found the majority of Americans don’t want Trump impeached.


Twitter: 

Adam Schiff now says he will hold off on impeaching President Trump, because the Mueller probe will most likely show no Russian collusion.

Owen exposes the hypocrisy of those that have pushed the fake Russian collusion narrative.

Source: InfoWars

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Volvo expects electric car margins to match conventional vehicles by 2025

FILE PHOTO: An electric vehicle charging cable is seen on the bonnet of a Volvo hybrid car in this picture illustration
FILE PHOTO: An electric vehicle charging cable is seen on the bonnet of a Volvo hybrid car in this picture illustration taken July 6, 2017. REUTERS/Phil Noble/Illustration

March 20, 2019

By Esha Vaish

GOTHENBURG (Reuters) – Volvo Cars expects its margins on electric cars to match those of vehicles with combustion engines by 2025, the head of the Chinese-owned Swedish carmaker told Reuters.

Global automakers are planning a $300 billion surge in spending on electric vehicle technology over the next five to 10 years but have admitted that higher component costs and limited take-up in initial years will hit margins.

Volvo is investing about 5 percent of its annual revenue, equating to a little more than $1 billion a year, in building driverless and electric cars and has promised to deliver five fully electric cars to market in the next few years.

It showcased the first less than a month ago, made by its luxury performance brand Polestar to rival to Tesla’s Model 3. It also plans to launch a Volvo-branded electric compact SUV this year in the company’s push to derive 50 percent of its sales from fully electric cars by 2025.

“It’s very difficult to say if we’re going to have the same margins in 2025 as we had in 2015 … because electric cars are very expensive,” Chief Executive Hakan Samuelsson told Reuters on the sidelines of a safety showcase by the company in Gothenburg.

“But I would be absolute sure we will have the same margins with electric cars as we will with conventional combustion cars in 2025.”

Samuelsson said the convergence would be helped by reducing costs for components such as batteries and declining margins on conventional cars.

(Reporting by Esha Vaish in Gothenburg; Editing by David Goodman)

Source: OANN

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California man faces hate crime charges after punching 7-Eleven clerk, saying he 'hated Muslims'

A homeless California man was charged with a hate crime after he allegedly punched and threw hot coffee on a 7-Eleven employee on Wednesday and claimed he "hated Muslims," officials said.

John Crain, 43, had tried to walk out of the store in Marysville around 2 a.m. without paying for the cup of coffee he just poured when he was confronted by the clerk, who is actually a member of the Sikh community.

The clerk told police that Crain threw hot coffee in his face, then punched him before leaving the store.

When police located Crain later that day after another suspected assault he admitted to the attack, saying he "hated Muslims," Marysville Police told FOX40.

CALIFORNIA WOMAN STABBED OFFICER AFTER DRIVING OVER 100 MPH ON INTERSTATE 5, POLICE SAY

Malia Lomanic, who lives next to the 7-Eleven, said she was angered by the attack.

“Those guys who work at the 7-Eleven are sweethearts,” she told FOX40. "They’re super nice dudes."

CALIFORNIA MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR STARTING WILDFIRE THAT FORCED OVER 7,000 TO EVACUATE

Local groups condemned the attack.

“The Sikhs are American, we’ve been working hard here for over 100 years,” Amar Shergill, a board member of the American Sikh Public Affairs Association, told FOX40. “A hate crime against a Sikh is the same as a hate crime against members of the Jewish or LGBTQ communities.”

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

Crain was booked into Yuba County Jail, where he is facing charges of theft, assault and a hate crime.

Source: Fox News National

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The Latest: Schultz says he will attend AIPAC

The Latest on the 2020 campaign season (all times Eastern):

6:40 a.m.

Howard Schultz will attend the annual conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on Monday evening. That from Schultz aide Erin McPike.

Schultz's decision to attend the annual AIPAC conference in Washington comes as Democrats have been grappling with the left's criticism of Israel and as most presidential candidates are sitting this year's conference out. Schultz is actively considering an independent presidential bid himself.

On Friday, Schultz responded to a tweet from the liberal advocacy group MoveOn, which has been urging Democratic presidential candidates not to attend. He said that the "unwillingness of the far left to even speak with people they may disagree with is one of the worst symbols of the dysfunction in Washington today."

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2:30 p.m.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren says the National Rifle Association is holding "Congress hostage" when it comes to stemming gun violence.

The Massachusetts senator and Democratic presidential candidate tells a campaign rally that if seven children were dying from a mysterious virus, "we'd pull out all the stops till we figured out what was wrong." But in terms of gun violence, she says the NRA "keeps calling the shots in Washington."

Warren finished a two-day campaign trip to New Hampshire with an event at middle school in Conway Sunday afternoon.

Warren focused much of her speech on her approach to economics, but paid special attention to unions Sunday. She says more power needs to be put back in the hands of workers.

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1:50 p.m.

California Sen. Kamala Harris may be dropping a hint on what she thinks about former Vice President Joe Biden, who is considering a third bid for the White House.

At an Atlanta church service Sunday, Harris compared leadership to a relay race in which each generation must ask themselves "what do we do during that period of time when we carry that baton."

Then she added with a smile that for "the older leaders, it also becomes a question of let's also know when to pass the baton."

Harris is 54 years old. Biden is 76, and some of his supporters have said he's aware that his age could be a political liability in the Democratic primary. He wouldn't be the oldest contender, though. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is 77.

___

1:40 p.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Kirsten Gillibrand is assailing President Donald Trump as a coward who is "tearing apart the moral fabric of the vulnerable."

The senator is speaking in New York, feet away from one of Trump's signature properties, the Trump International Hotel and Tower.

She says that instead of building walls as Trump wants to do along the U.S.-Mexico border, Americans build bridges, community and hope.

Gillibrand also called for full release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report in the Russia investigation. Attorney General William Barr was expected to release a summary of principal conclusions, but Democrats want to see the full details.

Gillibrand is trying to position herself in the crowded field of Democrats seeking the party's nomination. While some hopefuls have shied away from mentioning Trump, Gillibrand has not hesitated to do so.

___

1:25 p.m.

Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke is telling voters in Las Vegas that President Donald Trump bears blame for the separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border but responsibility lies with everyone in the country to fix the situation.

O'Rourke spoke Sunday to more than 200 people packed into and snaking around a taco shop on the city's north end. He says immigrant families are leaving their home countries and journeying on foot because they have no other choice.

The former Texas congressman says desperate families were broken up in the U.S. when they were at their most vulnerable and desperate moments, and what happened to them "is on every single one of us."

___

9 a.m.

As New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand officially kicks off her Democratic presidential campaign in New York City, her rivals are courting voters in early primary states.

Several Democratic White House hopefuls are campaigning Sunday, the day the Justice Department is expected to release key findings from special counsel Robert Mueller's confidential report on the Russia investigation.

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders continues his California swing with a trip to San Francisco.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper are wrapping up campaign trips to New Hampshire.

California Sen. Kamala Harris is attending a church service before speaking at a rally in Atlanta at Morehouse College.

Source: Fox News National

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House Democrat says Trump appeared to influence Whitaker in Cohen case

FILE PHOTO: Acting U.S. Attorney General Whitaker testifies before House Judiciary Committee oversight hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington
FILE PHOTO: Acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker testifies before a House Judiciary Committee hearing on oversight of the Justice Department on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 8, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo

March 20, 2019

By David Morgan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A leading House Democrat said on Tuesday that President Donald Trump appears to have influenced former acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker to raise doubts about the campaign finance case against Trump’s former lawyer.

U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Whitaker described interactions with Justice Department staff about the case against former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, which involved hush money payments to women who claimed to have affairs with Trump, during a March 13 closed-door meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

In a letter on Tuesday to Assistant Assistant Attorney General Steven Engel, Nadler said Whitaker expressed to staff concerns that campaign finance charges against Cohen may have been “specious” and raised “serious questions” about the theory of the case overseen by federal prosecutors in New York.

Whitaker also had concerns about U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman’s recusal from the case, saying the terms of the recusal were “convoluted,” according to the letter.

“It is reasonable to believe that this activity – the questions Mr Whitaker asked about Mr Cohen’s case, and the manner in which he asked them – reflected fears about the case that were likely expressed to Mr Whitaker by the president himself,” Nadler said.

Whitaker appeared never to have taken official action to intervene in the Cohen case, Nadler said.

Officials at the Justice Department and White House were not immediately available for comment.

Cohen pleaded guilty in August to orchestrating the hush money payments, which he said Trump directed him to make.

Nadler’s committee, which has jurisdiction over impeachment issues, is trying to determine whether the president has sought to obstruct justice by influencing investigations that involve him.

Trump may have urged Whitaker to Berman in charge of the Cohen case, according to a New York Times report that Trump has denied. Berman, a Trump campaign donor and former law partner of Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani, is recused from the case.

Nadler said his committee has identified individuals who claim to have direct knowledge of conversations between Whitaker and Trump.

But during their meeting on Capitol Hill, Nadler said Whitaker refused to answer questions about any conversations he may have had with Trump “on the basis that the president may one day want to invoke executive privilege.”

Whitaker, who left the Justice Department after Attorney General William Barr’s arrival last month, was appointed acting attorney general without Senate confirmation in November after Trump ousted former Attorney Jeff Sessions.

Democrats feared he could interfere with U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign. Nadler said he accepts that Whitaker never gave the White House “any promises or commitments concerning the Special Counsel’s investigation.”

Nadler rejected Whitaker’s decision not to answer questions because of possible executive privilege. He asked Engel, who heads the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, to determine whether the White House would actually invoke executive privilege.

(Reporting by David Morgan; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)

Source: OANN

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Turkey slams EU for attending summit hosted by Egypt

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has condemned European Union leaders for attending a meeting hosted by Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, days after the country executed nine suspected Muslim Brotherhood members.

Erdogan questioned "Can you speak of human rights" in the EU when the bloc's leaders agreed to be hosted by el-Sisi.

He was referring to a summit between EU and Arab League leaders held in Sharm el-Sheikh this week.

The nine were convicted of involvement in the 2015 assassination of the country's top prosecutor.

Ties between Egypt and Turkey have been tense since the 2013 ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi. Egypt accuses Turkey of becoming a refuge for Muslim Brotherhood members who fled Egypt.

Source: Fox News World

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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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