Briefs

After months of clashes on policy and personality, United States President Donald Trump is considering ousting Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and replacing him with hard- nosed CIA director Mike Pompeo following less than a year on the job, senior US officials said yesterday as turmoil within Trump’s national security team burst into the open. The White House plan, which Trump has not yet signed off on, would force a major realignment early in his term, also creating a vacancy atop the CIA that officials said could be filled by Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas. The overhaul could produce a significant shift in both the tone and direction of the President’s foreign policy, removing it from the understated former oil man whose style has never fit well with Trump’s. It is exceedingly rare for a secretary of state, Washington’s face on the global stage, to be fired or to serve for a year or less. Nor is it common for presidents to have such a significant Cabinet revamp so soon after taking office. Asked by a reporter yesterday whether he wanted Tillerson to stay on in the job, Trump was coy, merely pointing out that Tillerson was, in fact, in the building. “He’s here. Rex is here,” the President said.

Sub search continues

Argentina’s navy said yesterday that it is no longer looking for survivors among the 44 sailors aboard a submarine missing for more than two weeks, though a multinational operation will continue searching for the vessel. Hopes of finding survivors had already dimmed because experts said the crew had only enough oxygen to last seven to 10 days if the sub remained intact under the sea. The navy also had said an explosion was detected near the time and place where the ARA San Juan made its last contact with shore on November 15. Navy spokesman Enrique Balbi said the rescue mission had “extended for more than twice what is estimated for a rescue”. “We’ve had 28 ships, nine aircraft, 4000 people involved, 18 countries supporting,” he told reporters. “Despite the magnitude of these efforts, we’ve been unable to find the submarine.” Balbi said the search was no longer considered a rescue mission, but the hunt would go on for the missing sub.

Erdogan implicated

A Turkish- Iranian gold trader yesterday told jurors in a New York federal court that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan authorised a transaction in a scheme to help Iran evade US sanctions. Reza Zarrab is co- operating with US prosecutors in the criminal trial of a Turkish bank executive accused of helping to launder money for Iran. At the time of the alleged conspiracy, Erdogan was Turkey’s Prime Minister. Zarrab said he had learned from Zafer Caglayan, who was Turkey’s Economy Minister, that Erdogan and then- Treasury Minister Ali Babacan had authorised two Turkish banks, Ziraat Bank and VakifBank, to move funds for Iran. Both Ziraat and VakifBank denied taking part in the scheme. Neither Erdogan nor his representatives had any immediate comment on Zarrab’s accusation that he authorised such transactions. Erdogan said earlier yesterday that Turkey did not violate US sanctions, CNN Turk reported. A spokesman for the Government has called the case a “plot against Turkey”. The testimony came on the third day of the trial of Mehmet Hakan Atilla, an executive at Turkey’s state- owned Halkbank, who has pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court.