Page 3 - aruba-today-20170404
P. 3
U.S. NEWS A3
Tuesday 4 April 2017
Kushner, Dunford meet with Iraqi prime minister
BAGHDAD (AP) — President ly engaged in the cam- Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser, arrives at the Ministry
Donald Trump’s son-in-law paign.”
and senior adviser, Jared The meeting with al-Adabi of Defense, in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 3, 2017. Kushner, flew to Iraq with the U.S. Joint Chiefs
Kushner, and Joint Chiefs came after some confusion
of Staff chairman Gen. Jo- regarding Kushner’s where- of Staff chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford on Monday.
seph Dunford met Monday abouts Monday morning.
in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Kushner’s travel plans ini- (AP Photo)
Minister Haider al-Abadi. tially were revealed late
The visit marks an early Sunday by a Trump admin- folio is robust. He has been advising on relations with and the Palestinians.
foray for the Trump admin- istration official who said
istration into the situation in Kushner wanted to see the deeply involved with presi- the Middle East, Canada “If you can’t produce
Iraq. It comes against the situation there for himself
backdrop of an ongoing and show support for Bagh- dential staffing, recently and Mexico. peace in the Middle East,
investigation into civilian dad’s government.
deaths in an area of Mosul The official said Kushner launched a task force And though Kushner had nobody can,” Trump told
near the site of an air-strike had already arrived. But
by U.S.-led coalition forces when presented with infor- meant to modernize gov- no previous diplomatic or Kushner at a gala a few
last month. mation indicating that was
Dunford invited Kushner not accurate, the official ernment using lessons government experience, days before his inaugura-
and Thomas P. Bossert, a said the timing of his ar-
presidential assistant for rival was unclear but con- drawn from the private Trump also tasked him with tion.
homeland security and firmed that Kushner was
counterterrorism, on the trip scheduled to be in Iraq on sector, and has played the trying to broker a peace Kushner was also the lat-
to meet with Iraqi leaders Monday. Such visits from
and U.S. forces and receive high-ranking officials are role of shadow diplomat, agreement between Israel est Trump associate to be
an update on the fight typically kept secret out of
against the Islamic State security concerns.
group. Capt. Greg Hicks, The administration official
a spokesman for Dunford, who provided the informa-
said Kushner was “traveling tion late Sunday wasn’t
on behalf of the president authorized to speak about
to express the president’s confidential meetings by
support and commitment name and demanded an-
to the government of Iraq onymity.
and U.S. personnel current- Kushner’s West Wing port-
Trump says US will forge a ‘great bond’ with Egypt
Continued from front Brotherhood member, el- political Islamists. El-Sissi also Egyptians who’ve deemed often relegating human
Sissi has cracked down on has taken a heavy hand on his presidency illegitimate, rights concerns to national
For Egypt, the objective is security.
clear: Help us help you. President Donald Trump walks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi at the White House in But el-Sissi’s government
In recent months, U.S. and Washington, Monday, April 3, 2017. believes its success in fight-
Egyptian officials have ing radicalism depends
sought to stress common- (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) critically on U.S. aid.
alities. Egypt is among the top
Like Trump, el-Sissi believes recipients of U.S. military
he can eradicate radical and economic assistance,
Islamic extremism. but the aid is being evalu-
“Together, we will fight ter- ated as part of the Trump
rorism and other things and administration’s push for
we’re going to be friends dramatic budget cuts to
for a very, very long time,” diplomacy and develop-
Trump said, citing a “great ment. It receives $1.3 bil-
bond with the people of lion annually in aid, plus
Egypt.” hundreds of millions in eco-
El-Sissi vowed to work with nomic assistance from the
the U.S. “to counter this evil U.S. Agency for Interna-
ideology that is claiming tional Development and
innocent lives, that is bring- other programs potentially
ing devastation to com- on the chopping block.
munities and nations and Trump has vowed to work
that is terrorizing the inno- closely with Arab allies in
cent people.” the fight against the Islamic
Since the military over- State group. As a neighbor
threw Egypt’s first post- to the Hamas-controlled
revolution president, the Gaza Strip, Libya and Su-
popularly elected Mo- dan, maintaining stability
hamed Morsi, a Muslim in Egypt is a high priority.q
