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VIDEO: Students Say Offensive Speech Is Not Free Speech

Campus Reform’s Cabot Phillips, ahead of President Donald Trump signing an executive order Thursday that is intended to address free speech on college campuses, talked with students at Marymount University in Virginia to ask them their thoughts on what type of speech should be allowed and the type of speech they think crosses a line.

A number of students suggested that hateful, offensive, or rude speech should not be considered free speech.

“I think if it’s, like, hateful and disrespectful to specific groups, then that’s not OK,” one student said.

Another student suggested that “I think that you can be rude but not saying anything discriminatory and…you know…” while another stated, “I understand you have free rights to say what you want about people but when it’s, like, negatively impacting our school as a whole and other students around you, that’s crossing the line.”

Trump, on Thursday, will sign an executive order that will require colleges to certify they are complying with First Amendment protections in order to receive federal research dollars, according to a senior administration official.

The official declined to provide any more details of what exactly is in the order.

Trump previously stated at CPAC that the order would “require colleges and universities to support free speech if they want federal research dollars.” In anticipation of what the president initially said, Campus Reform compiled a report, based on publicly available data, showing how much colleges and universities receive in federal research funding.

The White House did not respond in time for publication to Campus Reform’s request for further comment when asked if the order will, in fact, tie federal research dollars to colleges’ support of free speech, as the president initially that said it would.

WATCH:


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Source: InfoWars

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Turkey-U.S. continue coordination for delivery of F-35: Turkish military sources

FILE PHOTO: A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin
FILE PHOTO: A Lockheed Martin F-35 aircraft is seen at the ILA Air Show in Berlin, Germany, April 25, 2018. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt/File Photo

April 4, 2019

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Coordination between Ankara and Washington over delivery of F-35 fighter jets continues as well as training of Turkish pilots in the United States, Turkish military sources said on Thursday.

Turkey has not halted preparations at the Malatya airbase where the F-35 jets will be stationed, the sources said, adding that Turkey has fulfilled all of its obligations under program.

(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz; Writing by Ezgi Erkoyun; Editing by Dominic Evans)

Source: OANN

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Trump picks Gorsuch, Kavanaugh take opposite sides on 2 of 3 Supreme Court rulings Tuesday

President Trump’s two appointees the U.S. Supreme Court -- Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh -- were expected to help bring about a "conservative revolution” on the nation’s highest court. But in two out three rulings by the court Tuesday, Gorsuch and Kavanaugh found themselves on opposing sides.

The two cases in which the justices did not agree involved an Indian tribe and Washington state taxes, and another involving maritime law.

Gorsuch, who was nominated by Trump in 2017 to fill the seat Senate Republicans held open for more than a year after Justice Antonin Scalia’s death in 2016, sided with the liberal justices in ruling that the Yakama Nation doesn’t have to pay a Washington state fuel tax. He cited an 1855 treaty that made a “handful of modest promises” to the tribe, including the right to move goods to market freely.

CHIEF JUSTICE ROBERTS' RECENT VOTES RAISE DOUBTS ABOUT 'CONSERVATIVE REVOLUTION' ON SUPREME COURT

Yakama Nation Chairman JoDe Goudy praised the ruling. In a statement cited by NW News Network, he wrote: “Today marks a decision that reinforces the Yakama way of life, both in historical context as well as modern interpretation."

Gorsuch's opinion was joined only by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the leader of the court's liberal wing. The other three liberal justices voted for the same outcome, but for different reasons.

Kavanaugh dissented from the Gorsuch and the liberals. He argued that the 1855 treaty merely gave tribal members equal rights to travel.

The other case that saw Kavanaugh and Gorsuch at odds addressed a lawsuit brought by two Navy veterans who had been exposed to asbestos. Writing the court’s opinion, Kavanaugh said that the makers of pumps, turbines, and blowers that required asbestos insulation to operate properly should have warned about the health dangers of asbestos exposure. This is so, Kavanaugh wrote, even though the companies did not manufacture or sell the asbestos to the Navy. The liberal justices and Chief Justice John Roberts also were in the majority.

Gorsuch, whose dissent was joined by Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas, wrote that the manufacturers "are at risk of being held responsible retrospectively for failing to warn about other people's products."

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Tuesday's third case demonstrated the more common alliance of the conservative justices. The court's decision, which saw Gorsuch and Kavanaugh in lockstep with the other conservatives, gave the federal government broader power to detain immigrants who are awaiting deportation anytime after they have been released from prison on criminal charges. The four liberal justices dissented.

Fox News' Andrew O'Reilly and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: Fox News National

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Death toll in New Zealand mosque shootings rises to 50

A police officer is pictured outside Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch
A police officer is pictured outside Masjid Al Noor mosque in Christchurch, New Zealand, March 17, 2019. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

March 16, 2019

By Tom Westbrook and Praveen Menon

CHRISTCHURCH/WELLINGTON (Reuters) – The death toll in the attack on two mosques in the New Zealand city of Christchurch rose to 50 after investigators found another victim as they removed bodies from the crime scenes, the country’s police commissioner said on Sunday.

The bodies of the victims in the attack by a suspected white supremacist in Friday’s attacks had not yet been released to families because investigations were ongoing, but police were working as quickly as they could to do that, Police Commissioner Mike Bush said at a media conference in Wellington.

Australian Brenton Harrison Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, was charged with murder on Saturday.

Tarrant, handcuffed and wearing a white prison suit, stood silently in the Christchurch District Court where he was remanded without a plea. He is due back in court on April 5 and police said he was likely to face further charges.

Friday’s attack, which Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern labeled as terrorism, was the worst ever peacetime mass killing in New Zealand and the country had raised its security threat level to the highest.

“It is with sadness that I advise that number of people who died in this event has now risen to 50,” Bush said.

“As of last night we were able to take all of the victims from both of those scenes. In doing so we were able to locate a further victim.”

The body of the 50th victim was found at the Al Noor mosque, where more than 40 people died on Friday after a gunman entered and shot randomly at people with a semi-automatic rifle with high-capacity magazines, before traveling to a second mosque.

Bush said there were also 50 people injured. Thirty-six were being treated in Christchurch Hospital, with two remaining in intensive care, and one child was at a dedicated children’s hospital.

Bush said police did not believe that three other people arrested on Friday were involved in the attack. Two men faced charges unrelated or “tangential” to the attack, while a woman had been released, he said.

New Zealand shooting: https://tmsnrt.rs/2TEun3P

(Reporting by Praveen Menon and Tom Westbrook; Additional reporting by Charlotte Greenfield; Writing by John Mair; Editing by Lincoln Feast)

Source: OANN

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Algerian protesters: President’s exit was only first step

Thousands of Algerians are chanting, singing and cheering after their pro-democracy movement forced out longtime President Abdelaziz Bouteflika — and demanding that other top figures leave too.

Crowds massed Friday in Algiers boulevards and headed toward the central post office, symbol of the movement that has upended this energy-rich North African country. Security was higher than usual, with roadblocks preventing large buses of protesters from entering the capital.

It is their seventh straight Friday of protests against a leadership seen as corrupt and repressive — but the first since Bouteflika resigned this week.

The protesters also want the departure of the prime minister, the head of the upper house of parliament and the president of the constitutional court.

Protesters chanted: "The people want them all to leave!"

Source: Fox News World

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British Parliament votes in favor of Brexit delay, unclear if EU leaders will accept

U.K. lawmakers in Parliament on Thursday voted in favor of a delay in Britain’s departure from the European Union, just weeks before the U.K. is due to leave -- although it is far from clear if E.U. leaders will agree to such a delay.

Lawmakers voted 412-202 in favor of the motion, which urges Prime Minister’s Theresa May’s government to go to Europe and request an extension past the March 29 deadline.

UK LAWMAKERS REJECT 'NO DEAL' BREXIT, TAKE STEP CLOSER TO DELAYING DEPARTURE

It comes as the culmination of a week of furious votes in Parliament, in which May’s withdrawal agreement was overwhelmingly voted down for the second time on Tuesday, On Wednesday, lawmakers voted to reject a “no deal” Brexit.

Currently Britain is set to leave without a deal, something that May’s government and opposition MPs have warned could be chaotic, but that pro-Brexit MPs have noted would simply revert Britain to World Trade Organization (WTO) terms, and have downplayed the disruption it would cause.

Neither the rejection of “no deal” nor the Thursday vote for an extension are binding, and don’t change the facts on the ground. It is now up to May to go to Europe and see if she can agree to a delay -- a delay she previously said would be short-term and no later than June.

TRUMP BACKS BREXIT BY PROMISING 'LARGE SCALE TRADE DEAL' WITH UK

Calls for such a short delay have been greeted frostily on the continent. French President Emmanuel Macron said last month that E.U. leaders would only agree to an extension “if it is justified by new choices by the British.”

On Thursday, European Council President Donald Tusk said that he would call for E.U. leaders to be open to a “long extension” but that was on the condition that Britain “rethink its Brexit strategy and build consensus around it.”

E.U. leaders may demand that Britain hold a redo of the 2016 referendum as a condition for a delay. But, while the opposition Labour Party and other smaller parties have backed a second referendum, lawmakers are cautious of being seen to back such a radical move before all other options are exhausted.

An amendment on Thursday that called for a delay so as to allow a second referendum was soundly defeated in Parliament, being voted down 334-85 -- suggesting there isn’t an appetite for a second referendum yet.

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Meanwhile, the BBC reported that May will make a third attempt next week to get her withdrawal deal through Parliament, warning Brexiteers that that will be the only way to prevent a lengthy Brexit delay.

In Washington, President Trump appeared to try and tempt lawmakers to get on with it by renewing his promise for a "large scale trade deal" between the U.S. and the U.K.

Later on Thursday, in the Oval Office alongside Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, Trump said he was "surprised at how badly it's all gone from the standpoint of a negotiation" and said that May didn't listen to his advice on how to negotiate with the E.U. He also said that a second referendum, that some pro-E.U. politicians are calling for in the U.K., would be "unfair."

CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP

"I hate to see everything being ripped apart right now, I don't think another vote would be possible because it would be very unfair to the people that won that say: 'What do you mean you're going to take another vote?'" he said. "So that would be tough."

Source: Fox News World

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Dollar firms, sterling falls again on Brexit worries

Illustration photo of British Pound Sterling and U.S. Dollar notes
British Pound Sterling and U.S. Dollar notes are seen in this June 22, 2017 illustration photo. REUTERS/Thomas White/Illustration

March 11, 2019

By Daniel Leussink

TOKYO (Reuters) – The dollar edged up early on Monday, hovering close to a near three-month high as investors took cover in the currency amid global growth concerns, while sterling extended its decline on an uncertain outlook over Britain’s exit from the European Union.

The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major rivals, gained 0.1 percent to 97.426 in early Asian trading.

The index was just shy of its recent peak of 97.710 hit last Thursday, its highest since Dec. 14 last year. It is up 1.3 percent so far this year.

The euro was a shade lower at $1.1225. The single currency had fallen to its weakest level since late June 2017 on Thursday, hurt by dovish signals from the European Central Bank (ECB).

“After the ECB’s big downgrade of the growth outlook for the euro area, together with the weaker-than-expected Chinese export and import data, the worry over the global economy is re-surging again,” said Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities.

“That’s pushing down the euro and other currencies,” he said. “The U.S. is not particularly strong, but other areas are weak. That’s why the dollar is relatively strong.”

Data on Friday showed U.S. employment growth almost stalled in February, with the world’s top economy creating a measly 20,000 jobs, far fewer than expected by analysts.

But traders found some hope in figures showing the U.S. employment rate slipped back below 4 percent and average hourly earnings accelerated by 0.4 percent, helping to reduce the greenback’s losses during the previous session.

On Monday, the British pound gave up 0.4 percent to $1.2968 after briefly dipping to a near three-week low on nervousness over Brexit. The currency had already fallen for seven straight sessions.

Sterling has come under renewed pressure after British foreign minister Jeremy Hunt said on Sunday Brexit could be reversed if lawmakers reject the government’s exit deal.

His remarks followed a warning from two major eurosceptic factions in parliament that Prime Minister Theresa May was likely to face heavy defeat at a parliamentary vote on Tuesday on whether to approve her EU exit plan.

The British Prime Minister is scrambling – so far unsuccessfully – to secure last-minute changes to an EU exit treaty ahead of the vote, which comes weeks before the United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union on March 29.

Mizuho’s Yamamoto said traders are trimming holdings of sterling as rate-hike expectations by the Bank of England are reduced, making the currency increasingly sensitive to near-term events, such as the parliamentary vote.

“These days, the UK inflation data isn’t as strong as before,” he said. “The rate-hike expectation after the avoidance of the no-deal Brexit is fading away.”

Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was down 0.2 percent at 110.99 yen.

(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: OANN

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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.

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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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