INT ERNAT IONALTUESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2017

WEST PALM BEACH: US President Donald Trump haslong expressed a desire for improved relations withMoscow, but his latest comments about RussianPresident Vladimir Putin and the US are leading somefellow Republicans to take a step back from the presi-dent - on this issue at least. Told by Fox News’ BillO’Reilly during an interview that the Russian leader is“a killer,” Trump said the US has killers, too. “What doyou think? Our country’s so innocent?” Trump said dur-ing the taped interview broadcast during Sunday’sSuper Bowl pregame show.

Trump has praised Putin and signaled that US-Russia relations could be in for a makeover under hisleadership, even after US intelligence agencies con-cluded that Russia meddled in the 2016 US presiden-tial campaign to help Trump defeat Democrat HillaryClinton. During Putin’s years in power, a number ofprominent Russian opposition figures and journalistshave been killed. Trump says in the interview that herespects a lot of people, including Putin “but that does-n’t mean I’m going to get along with him. He’s a leaderof his country. I say it’s better to get along with Russiathan not.

And if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS, whichis a major fight, and Islamic terrorism all over the world- that’s a good thing,” Trump said, using an acronym forthe Islamic State group. “Will I get along with him? Ihave no idea.” O’Reilly then said about Putin: “But he’s akiller, though. Putin’s a killer.” Trump responded: “Thereare a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What doyou think? Our country’s so innocent?” When O’Reillysays he doesn’t know any US government leaders whoare killers, Trump said “take a look at what we’ve done,too. We’ve made a lot of mistakes” and then he refer-enced the Iraq war.

The Kremlin voiced anger over O’Reilly’s characteri-zation. Dmitry Peskov, a spokesman for PresidentVladimir Putin, refused to comment on Trump’s replybut lashed out at Fox, calling O’Reilly’s remarks “unac-ceptable and offensive.” “We would like to receive anapology to the president from this respected organiza-tion,” Peskov told reporters yesterday, referring to FoxNews. At home, Republicans and Democrats tookexception to Trump’s comparison of Russia and the US“Putin’s a former KGB agent. He’s a thug. He was notelected in a way that most people would consider acredible election,” Senate Majority Leader MitchMcConnell, R-Ky., said.

“The Russians annexed Crimea, invaded Ukraine andmessed around in our elections. And no, I don’t thinkthere’s any equivalency between the way the Russiansconduct themselves and the way the United Statesdoes.” Added Sen. Ben Sasse, of Nebraska, one ofTrump’s Republican critics: “There is no moral equiva-lency between the United States of America, the great-est freedom living nation in the history of the world,and the murderous thugs that are in Putin’s defense ofhis cronyism. O’Reilly also asked Trump to back up hisclaim that some 3 million to 5 million illegal votes werecast in the election. Trump didn’t answer directly, but

Republicans seek distance from Trump’s comments on Putin, US

WASHINGTON: In this file photo, US President Donald Trump waves as he walks with First Lady Melania Trump andtheir son Barron during the inauguration parade on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington. —AP

YAOUNDE, Cameroon: Only one high school studentout of 4,000 showed up on the first day of Cameroon’snew term in Bamenda, the English-speaking city at theheart of a deadly conflict over language in this bilingualWest African country. Teachers have joined a strike ledby lawyers resentful over the official use of French inthe English-speaking part of the country. Recentprotests have called for “ghost town” strikes in majorcities. The government shut down the internet in theEnglish-speaking region, digital advocacy group AccessNow has said.

Tensions are so high that 10 people were killed indemonstrations over language discrimination inBamenda in December. The government sent in 5,000troops to stabilize the city. Two officials with theCameroon Anglophone Civil Society Consortium havebeen charged with terrorism and rebellion against thestate for their role in the recent protests and face thedeath penalty if convicted. The government hasbanned the consortium’s activities. Another activist,Bibixy Mancho, faces the same charges.

Amnesty International has called for the release ofNkongho Felix Agbor-Balla and Fontem Aforteka’a Neba,saying that “this flagrant disregard for basic rights risksinflaming an already tense situation.” Hundreds havebeen arrested, including protesters who stopped thesinging of the Cameroonian national anthem, dismiss-ing it as a foreign song. Some hoisted a new flag, declar-ing that they are no longer part of French-speakingCameroon. Longtime President Paul Biya has said he isopen to negotiations but will never accept any attemptsto destabilize national unity.

Over the weekend, state media reported that teach-ers’ union leaders had agreed to suspend the strike andthat classes would resume yesterday, though opposi-tion outlets said the report was incorrect. As the strikecontinues, one student, 17-year-old Oben Ashu, saidhe’s afraid his education - and his future - will be com-promised. “They should give us the room to go back toschool and be studying while the government and theteachers sit down in a table and discuss how the prob-lem can be solved,” Ashu said. Cameroon is made up ofareas that were once colonies of France and Britainuntil the early 1960s.

English speakers constitute only 20 percent ofCameroon’s population, though the constitution saysEnglish and French should be equally important. Butmost official documents are still available only inFrench, and teachers with little English ability are oftensent to English-language areas of the country. Theprotests began late last year when lawyers asked thatFrench-speaking judges be transferred out of English-speaking regions, saying justice cannot be renderedwhen the judge, the lawyer and the suspect cannotcommunicate. When the lawyer’s requests were notgranted, they went to the streets and refused to defendclients in court.

Teachers also got involved, saying there is an over-bearing influence of French in schools in the English-speaking regions. The impasse is frustrating studentsand parents who feel caught in the middle. “I am justpleading, government help us, so that our children,Cameroonians of tomorrow, should go back to schoolso that this country should be stabilized and peaceful,”said parent Ndip Victor. Bernard Okalia Bilai, governorof the southwest region, has warned the striking teach-ers that they will not receive their salaries unless theyreturn to the classroom.

In response, Cameroon’s government has orderedthe recruitment of 1,000 bilingual teachers and thetransferring of teachers out of the English-speakingregion if they are not fluent in the language. Still, thechairman of Cameroon’s main opposition political partycautioned the president and his government againsttaking the situation too lightly, saying that “if this thingstretches out ... it might be a little too dangerous forour country.”—AP

English vs French

tensions turn deadly

shifted to assert that immigrants in the US illegally anddead people are on the voter rolls.

“It’s really a bad situation, it’s really bad,” Trumpsaid. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud inthe Nov. 8 election. Trump won the Electoral Collegevote but lost the popular vote by nearly 2.9 millionvotes to Clinton. Trump recently announced on Twitterthat he would call for a “major investigation” into voterfraud. He said during the Fox News interview that hewil l set up a commission to be headed by VicePresident Mike Pence and “we’re going to look at itvery, very carefully.”

Asked earlier about Trump’s promised investigation,McConnell said he saw no federal role because stateshistorically have handled voter fraud investigations. “Idon’t think we ought to spend any federal moneyinvestigating that,” he said on CNN.

On other issues, Trump said in the interview that:California’s consideration of legislation to become astatewide sanctuary for people living in the countryillegally is “ridiculous.” He suggested withholding fed-eral funding as a possible punishment. Plans to enact acomplete replacement for the Affordable Care Actcould slip into next year. “I would like to say by the endof the year, at least the rudiments, but we should havesomething within the year and the following year.”Living in the White House is “a surreal experience in acertain way, but you have to get over it, becausethere’s so much work to be done.”—AP