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A8 WORLD NEWS
Saturday 4 January 2020
'A more dangerous world': US killing triggers global alarm

By JOHN LEICESTER tain calm and restraint and
Associated Press avoid further escalation of
PARIS (AP) — Global pow- tensions." U.S. allies Britain,
ers warned Friday that the Germany and Canada
American airstrike respon- suggested that Iran bore
sible for killing Iran's top some responsibility for the
general made the world confrontation. German
more dangerous and that government spokeswoman
escalation could set the Ulrike Demmer described
entire Mideast aflame. the strike as "a reaction to
Some U.S. allies suggested a whole series of military
Iran shared in the blame by provocations." She pointed
provoking the attack. to attacks on tankers and
The deaths of Gen. Qas- a Saudi oil facility, among
sem Soleimani and associ- other events.
ates drew immediate cries "We are at a dangerous es-
for revenge from Tehran calation point," she said.
and a chorus of appeals The British foreign secre-
from other countries for re- tary, Dominic Raab, said his
duced tensions between government had "always
Iran and the United States. recognized the aggressive
As U.S. Secretary of State threat posed by the Iranian
Mike Pompeo called world Pakistani Shiite Muslims demonstrate over the U.S. airstrike in Iraq that killed Iranian Revolutionary Quds force." Following So-
capitals to defend the at- Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, near the U.S. Consulate in Lahore, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 3, 2020. leimani's death, "we urge
tack, diplomats scrambled Associated Press all parties to de-escalate,"
to chart a way forward. he said. "Further conflict is
"A further escalation that old led Iran's elite Quds Social media flooded with "The U.S. military were act- in none of our interests."
sets the whole region on Force, which undertakes alarm. Twitter users mor- ing on orders of U.S. politi- Canadian Foreign Minister
fire needs to be prevent- the country's foreign cam- bidly turned "WWIII" into the cians. Everyone should re- Francois-Philippe Cham-
ed," German Foreign Min- paigns. Iranian state TV top trending term world- member and understand pagne said Soleimani's "ag-
ister Heiko Maas said. He reported that 10 people wide. that U.S. politicians have gressive actions have had
said he told Pompeo that were killed in the airstrike "We are waking up in a their interests, considering a destabilizing effect in the
the strike had not "made it near Baghdad's airport. more dangerous world. that this year is an election region and beyond."
easier to reduce tensions." "He should have been tak- Military escalation is always year," Zakharova said in a There were warnings the
But Maas also noted that en out many years ago!" dangerous," France's depu- TV interview. killing could set back efforts
the assault "followed a se- U.S. President Donald ty minister for foreign affairs, His election opponents to stamp out remnants of
ries of dangerous Iranian Trump tweeted. Amelie de Montchalin, told characterized Trump as the Islamic State group.
provocations." Oil prices surged as inves- RTL radio. reckless. Democratic presi- A top European Union of-
The White House justified tors fretted about Mid- Russia characterized the dential candidate Joe ficial, Charles Michel, said
the killings with a tweet al- east stability. Saudi Arabia, killings as "fraught with se- Biden said the president "the risk is a generalized
leging that Soleimani "was Iran's top rival in the region, rious consequences." For- "tossed a stick of dynamite flare-up of violence in the
actively developing plans urged restraint and called eign Ministry spokeswoman into a tinderbox." whole region and the rise
to attack American dip- on the international com- Maria Zakharova suggest- China described itself as of obscure forces of ter-
lomats and service mem- munity "to ensure the stabil- ed that Trump ordered the "highly concerned" and rorism that thrive at times
bers in Iraq and throughout ity of such a vital region to strike with one eye on his re- urged all parties "especially of religious and nationalist
the region." The 62-year- the entire world." election campaign. the United States, to main- tensions." q

North Macedonia's PM resigns,

caretaker government elected

country's former interior North Macedonia had pre- Macedonia, settling a de-
minister, after Zoran Zaev viously agreed — under cades-long dispute.
resigned as prime minis- intense pressure from the Greece considered that
ter ahead of previously EU — to sign a historic deal the name "Macedonia"
agreed early elections on that normalized relations was an attempt to steal its
April 12. with neighboring Greece, own Macedonian heritage
Under a deal made by and had believed that and might imply territo-
major political parties, the membership talks would go rial designs on its northern
caretaker government will ahead. province of Macedonia. In-
be headed by Oliver Spa- But France, supported by cluded in the accord was a
sovski, who served in Zaev's Denmark and the Neth- statement that the current
center-left administration. erlands, strongly opposed state of Macedonia and
Oliver Spasovski, the new prime minister of the caretaker Zaev had announced the membership talks, calling the ancient Greek king-
government, greets the lawmakers after the parliament voted early election noting his "dis- for an overhaul of the EU's dom of Macedonia are un-
in favor on a session in Skopje, North Macedonia, Friday, Jan. appointment and outrage" procedures for admitting related.
3, 2020. at the European Union's new members. Zaev had The agreement was rati-
Associated Press
failure to start membership staked his political future fied despite heavy criticism
Associated Press parliament on Friday ap- talks with North Macedonia on the 2018 agreement by opposition parties and
SKOPJE, North Macedonia proved a new caretaker and fellow Balkan nation with Greece that changed hardline nationalists in both
(AP) — North Macedonia's government under the Albania last year. the country's name from countries.q