(AFP) – The United States is alone in
helping Nigeria locate more than 200 schoolgirls
kidnapped by Islamists, Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday, despite
help on the ground from Britain, France and Israel.
With 80 military personnel sent to
neighboring Chad for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions,
the United States is the biggest foreign participant in the effort against the
militant group Boko Haram.
Washington has also deployed
surveillance drones, spy planes and about 30 civilian and military specialists
to support Nigeria‘s security forces.
“Boko Haram, Nigeria, only the United
States is there offering the assistance to help find those young women,” Kerry
said during a dinner at the State Department.
“Other countries, not only aren’t
they invited, but they did not even offer.”
Kerry spoke during a dinner at the
State Department on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the US diplomatic
corps.
The United Nations earlier Thursday
imposed sanctions on Boko Haram, blacklisting it as an Al-Qaeda-linked
terrorist organization.
In his speech, Kerry also lashed out
at France, whose Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has expressed regret that the
United States did not attack Syria a year ago amid spiraling violence in the conflict
there.
“People are angry because we did not
strike Syria at one instance but guess what: Today, 92 percent of all the
chemical weapons in Syria are out and being destroyed and the other eight
percent will get out,” a visibly angry Kerry said, without mentioning France
specifically.
“That never would have occurred
otherwise.”
Kerry is said to have backed military
action against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, only to have US President
Barack Obama oppose the move at the last minute.
No comments:
Post a Comment