Kuwait Times

TRUMP HOSTS SCANDAL-HIT MALAYSIAN PM NAJIB RAZAK

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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump hosted Malaysia’s prime minister at the White House yesterday, a meeting that risks being overshadow­ed by his guest’s spiraling corruption scandal. Prime Minister Najib Razak will visit the Oval Office for talks that the White House says will be focused on terrorism, trade and Asian maritime disputes. But the run-up to Najib’s arrival has been dominated by questions about his entangleme­nt in an ongoing US Justice Department investigat­ion.

The veteran prime minister faces allegation­s that billions were looted from a sovereign wealth fund, 1Malaysia Developmen­t Berhad (1MDB), in complex overseas deals that are being investigat­ed by authoritie­s in several countries, including the United States. Both the prime minister and the fund deny any wrongdoing, but the Justice Department has filed civil lawsuits to seize assets, from high-end real estate to artworks, it says are worth about $1.7 billion.

The White House refused to say whether the issue will come up, and has tried to shift the focus onto relations with a key partner in South East Asia. Trump is expected to visit the region later this year for summits in Vietnam and the Philippine­s. “Look, we’re not going to comment on an ongoing investigat­ion being led by the Department of Justice,” said press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Monday. “That investigat­ion is apolitical and certainly independen­t of anything taking place tomorrow.”

“The United States and Malaysia have had a 60-year relationsh­ip and partnershi­p built on common economic and security interests, and that continues.” She listed “strengthen counterter­rorism cooperatio­n,” halting the Islamic State group, “addressing North Korea” and “making sure that we promote maritime security in the South China Sea” as topics for discussion. Trump is also likely to reiterate thanks for Malaysia’s efforts to assist the USS John S. McCain, which collided with a tanker as the destroyer was on its way to Singapore, tearing a huge hole in the hull and leaving 10 sailors dead.

Ahead of his arrival at the White House, Najib sought to play up majority-Muslim Malaysia’s role as a partner in countering violent extremism. “What underpins decades of friendly, productive and cooperativ­e relations are the deep-seated values we share,” he wrote in an article published by The Hill newspaper. “Our commitment to the fight against radicaliza­tion and terror is something we feel in our hearts.”

Criticism of Najib

Malaysian opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang painted that appeal as a deflection. “No prime minister of Malaysia in the past 60 years had to face such phalanx of internatio­nal media hostility or avalanche of adverse press publicity both in the United States and the world,” he said in a statement. “It is inconceiva­ble that Najib would have the credibilit­y to salvage his own as well as the nation’s reputation with his visit to the United States.”

“Najib cannot free Malaysia from the ignominy and infamy of being regarded worldwide as a global kleptocrat.” In an editorial, the Washington Post said Najib’s visit “sets a new low” for the Trump administra­tion. “Not only is Mr Najib known for imprisonin­g peaceful opponents, silencing critical media and reversing Malaysia’s progress toward democracy,” the paper wrote. —AFP

 ??  ?? WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump greets Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak outside of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC. — AFP
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump greets Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak outside of the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC. — AFP

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