Month: February 2022

Guinea-Bissau’s President Umaro Sissoco Embalo said many members of the security forces had been killed during an attempted coup Tuesday, without providing specific figures.

Speaking to the press, Embalo said the shootings lasted five hours and security personnel were among the many dead.

Earlier reports had said the president’s whereabouts were unknown, but he clarified that he was at the presidential palace.

Embalo described the coup attempt as an attack against democracy, attributing it to “the work of isolated elements.”

He added that some military personnel involved in the attack had been detained.

Situation ‘under government control’

The situation in Guinea-Bissau is “under government control,” said Embalo.

In a tweet, he said he was “fine” and thanked the people of Guinea-Bissau and the rest of the world for their concern.

“The situation is under government control…Long live the Republic and may God watch over Guinea-Bissau,” he said.

Heavy gunfire was heard near the presidential palace in the capital Bissau earlier in the day, leading to reports of a coup attempt in a country with a history of military takeovers.

Media reports did not clarify whether the attackers were members of the security forces but said that Embalo and Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam were holding a Cabinet meeting in the building at the time.

Several people were wounded and the attackers wore civilian clothes, the local Ditadura newspaper reported.

Soldiers in military vehicles drove through the streets of the capital and some were deployed around government buildings, it added.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), a 15-nation West African regional bloc, called the violence a “coup attempt” and said it “holds the military responsible for the bodily integrity of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and the members of his government.”

Three countries in West Africa – Mali, Guinea and Burkina Faso – have witnessed military coups over the last 18 months.

UN, African Union condemn coup attempt

Meanwhile, the African Union expressed concern over the attempted coup and called on the country’s military to free detained government members.

“The chairman of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, follows with deep concern the situation in Guinea-Bissau, marked by an attempted coup against the country’s government,” it said in a statement.

“He calls on the military to return to their barracks without delay and to ensure the physical safety of President Umaro Sissoco Embalo and members of his government and to immediately release those of them who are in detention.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres also said he was deeply concerned with the situation in Guinea-Bissau.

He called for an immediate end to the fighting and for full respect of the country’s democratic institutions, his deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq, said in a statement.

Tuesday’s violence came days after Embalo reshuffled his Cabinet, a decision initially challenged by Nabiam’s party.

Relations between the president and the Nabiam-led government have reportedly been tense in recent months.

Guinea-Bissau has had nine coups and attempted coups since its independence from Portugal in 1974.

For more than four decades, no elected head of state had finished a five-year term until Jose Mario Vaz saw out his full tenure in June 2019.

In 2009, then-President Joao Bernardo Vieira was assassinated in what was said to be an apparent revenge attack by soldiers for the killing of the country’s then-army chief, who was at odds with Vieira.

Source: Anadolu Agency

The US and NATO ignored Moscow’s principal concerns in their responses to the country’s proposals on security guarantees, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

Though the Russian leadership is still examining the documents it received from Washington and Brussels, it is clear that they lack an adequate response to Moscow’s three key demands, Putin said at a news conference after a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Speaking in Moscow, Putin noted that these three demands were for NATO to stop expanding eastward, written guarantees against the deployment of strike weapons near Russia’s borders, and the return of NATO’s military infrastructure in Europe to their 1997 positions.

Speaking about the situation in Ukraine amid increased tensions, Putin said that by posing threats against Russia, this country creates risks for itself.

He said Ukraine was a tool being used to contain Russia for the US, accusing Washington of trying to engage Moscow in an armed conflict.

The president asserted that Russia wanted to avoid negative developments around Ukraine, but said that for this to be possible, all sides’ interests needed to be taken into account in efforts to find a solution.

“It is necessary to find a way to provide security of all — Russia’s, the EU’s, Ukraine’s,” he said.

He said he hoped that a solution could be found to the problem of security guarantees, though it would be difficult to discern what such a solution would look like.

For his part, Hungary’s Orban said he believes the differences between Russia and the US and NATO could be settled.

Russia in December presented the US and NATO with a proposal on providing security guarantees in Europe that it says would take into account its interests.

On Jan. 27, after a series of talks, the US and NATO handed the Russian Foreign Ministry their written responses to the proposals.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Further Russian incursion in Ukraine would be a political, humanitarian and military disaster, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in Kyiv on Tuesday.

At a joint news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Johnson said intelligence suggests an “imminent military campaign,” responding to Russian claims that Western countries have exaggerated the threat.

Johnson and Zelensky met in the Ukrainian capital “to discuss ongoing Russian hostile activity, including military buildup.”

“We see large numbers of troops amassing, we see preparations for all kinds of operations that are consistent with an imminent military campaign,” the British premier said.

Johnson said the Russians should understand the reality that Ukraine “will fight,” and there are 200,000 people ready to put up a “very, very fierce and bloody resistance.”

“I hope very much that President [Vladimir] Putin steps back from the path of conflict and that we engage in dialogue, and that is what the UK is intent on producing and that’s why I’m here today,” he said, adding that he will speak with Putin on Wednesday.

A phone call between the two leaders was scheduled for Tuesday but later postponed to Wednesday.

Ukrainians will fight ‘until the very end’

Zelensky said “we have to be prepared for bad things,” vowing that Ukrainians will fight “until the very end.”

He urged Russia to “listen and understand that a war is something no one really needs,” asserting that there will be “a tragedy” in case of aggression against Ukraine.

He underlined that “this is not going to be a war between Ukraine and Russia,” but “a European war” and “a full-fledged war.”

Joint statement

A joint statement from Johnson and Zelensky said “the UK stands shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in the face of ongoing Russian aggression, which threatens regional peace and security and undermines the global order.”

The two leaders emphasized during the meeting that “it is the right of every Ukrainian to determine their own future.”

They warned that any further Russian incursion in Ukraine would be “a massive strategic mistake and have a stark humanitarian cost.”

The two countries agreed “to work together to strengthen Ukraine’s security and ability to defend itself,” read the statement.

The leaders also “expressed their commitment to strengthen Ukraine’s energy security and support its efforts towards the green transition.”

Johnson “announced £88 million ($118.9 million) of new funding to aid efforts to build Ukraine’s resilience and reduce reliance on Russian energy supplies,” the statement added.

Source: Anadolu Agency

Top officials of the European Union, US, NATO, and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) held discussions on Tuesday to coordinate their diplomatic positions on Russia.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, NATO head Jens Stoltenberg, and Zbigniew Rau, Poland’s foreign minister and current OSCE chairman, held a four-way phone call, the EU’s diplomatic service said in a statement.

“They discussed latest developments and diplomatic activities related to Russia’s military buildup in and around Ukraine, and Moscow’s demands for rearrangements in European security, including the letter by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Jan. 31,” the statement said.

The leaders reaffirmed that “the fundamental principles of the European security architecture” need to be upheld.

They agreed to continue discussions on the matter and underlined that the OSCE is the right platform for exchanges on European security.

NATO last week rejected Russia’s demands to withdraw its troops and weapons from Eastern Europe and to halt the integration of Ukraine, urging Moscow to focus on diplomatic engagement and to start talks on arms control.

The US and its European allies have been warning that Russia is setting the stage for an invasion of Ukraine by positioning over 100,000 troops on its border with the former Soviet republic, along with significant artillery and tank deployments.

Source: Anadolu Agency

WASHINGTON (AA) – FBI Director Christopher Wray warned that the threat from China is “more brazen” and “more damaging” than ever.

Speaking Monday at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Wray said he has spoken “a lot about this threat” since he became the head of the FBI.

“Because in many ways it’s reached a new level — more brazen, more damaging than ever before, and it’s vital, vital, that all of us focus on that threat together,” said Wray.

He accused the Chinese government of trying to steal information and technology, saying there is not any other country that poses a “broader threat” to the US’ innovation and economic security.

“The Chinese government steals staggering volumes of information and causes deep, job-destroying damage across a wide range of industries,” he said.

The FBI chief excluded the Chinese people and Chinese-Americans, who he said are themselves frequently victims of the Chinese government’s “lawless aggression.”

“Protecting them from the Chinese government is top of mind for us,” he added.

Source: Anadolu Agency