US pledges $60 million to Sahel counter-terrorism force 10/30/2017 5:20:21 PM   facebook Google+ ► Print This file photo taken on October 4, 2017, shows US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson making a statement to the press at the State Department in Washington, DC. The United States will pledge $60 million to support the new G5 Sahel regional counter-terrorism force, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Monday, ahead of UN talks on the operation. France 24, 30 October 2017  - 'This is a fight we must win, and these funds will play a key role in achieving that mission,' he said, describing G5 members Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger as 'regional partners.' Washington has previously expressed support for the force, and has troops and drone operators in the region supporting operations against Islamist militants, but opposes  United Nations  involvement. The UN Security Council was due to meet later Monday to ...

Tillerson: No future for Assad in Syria 10/26/2017 9:17:01 PM   facebook Google+ ► Print US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in Geneva that he hopes that a mechanism to remove Syrias Bashar al-Assad from power will emerge as part of a UN peace process GENEVA, AFP, 26 October 2017   - US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson declared Thursday that Bashar al-Assad has no future as leader of Syria and will have to leave office as part of a UN-mediated peace process. Tillerson's comments to reporters came during a visit to Geneva in which he met UN envoy Staffan de Mistura, who is trying to convene a new round of peace talks next month. The secretary said US policy has not changed, but his remarks represented tougher language from an administration that had previously said Assad's fate is not a priority. 'We do not believe there is a future for the Assad regime, the Assad family,' Tillerson said. 'I think I've said it on...