The Latest on President Donald Trump’s first trip abroad (all times local) :
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – The Latest on President Donald Trump’s first trip abroad (all times local) : 10: 13 p.m. An Israeli official says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet approved confidence building measures ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit including allowing Palestinian construction in part of the West Bank. He says Sunday’s package includes Palestinian building permits for a West Bank area under Israeli control known as Area C. The official was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly before the government’s official announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Palestinian Authority has limited say in about 38 percent of the West Bank where most Palestinians live. The remainder of the land, home to over 350,000 Israeli settlers, has largely been off limits to Palestinian development. Israeli media reported the package includes economic concessions and opening the border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan 24 hours a day. ___ Ian Deitch in Jerusalem. ___ 9: 10 p.m. President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia’s King Salman are inaugurating a new state-of-the-art center in Riyadh to monitor and combat extremism. Trump and a number of regional leaders visited the new Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology Sunday, the heart of which is a giant wall, filled with screens displaying real-time online extremist activity. More than two hundreds data analysts also worked on their individual computer screens. Trump and the king each placed their hands on a miniature globe that officially activated the center and launched a splashy welcome video. The White House did not immediately provide information as to any U. S. Involvement in the creation of the center. The project began two years ago, before Trump took office. ___ 9: 00 p.m. The new U. S. ambassador to Israel has attended a celebration of Israel’s capture of east Jerusalem 50 years ago, days after the White House declined to recognize Israeli sovereignty over the area. David Friedman joined a host of hardline Israeli leaders at Sunday’s celebration. Later, he joined Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a bigger celebration in Jerusalem’s Old City. Netanyahu says it was the first time an American ambassador has attended such an event. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The area is home to sensitive religious sites, including the Western Wall, the holiest place where Jews can pray. Israel considers the entire city to be its capital. The international community says the fate of east Jerusalem, claimed by the Palestinians, must be resolved through negotiations. ___ 8: 55 p.m. A Syrian rebel commander fighting Syrian and allied troops has praised President Donald Trump’s criticism of Iran, calling it a boost for opponents of the government of President Bashar Assad. In Riyadh, Trump said Assad’s government has committed „unspeakable crimes“ bolstered by Iran, blaming Tehran for supporting terrorists and fueling instability in the region. Jamil al-Saleh, the commander of the western-backed Ezzah Army rebel group, called Trump’s position „excellent.“ Al-Saleh said Trump appears to be charting a new path, expressing hope it means that he will not tolerate and will respond to Iran’s involvement in Syria, which he said, is an indirect boost to the opposition. Iran is one of the main backers of Assad, advising and sending fighters to Syria against insurgents. Al-Saleh said Trump’s speech was a message to Russia, the other backer of Assad’s government. „He is telling Russia that all your partners in the Syrian theater are the very definition of terrorism.“ ___ 8: 41 p.m. Palestinian activists are calling for a „Day of Rage“ when President Donald Trump visits the West Bank on Tuesday. A group calling itself the Supreme National Leadership Committee is calling for public demonstrations across the West Bank. The committee includes various Palestinian political factions, including President Mahmoud Abbas‘ Fatah movement. The demonstrations are meant to draw attention to a month long hunger strike by hundreds of prisoners being held by Israel and to protest what many Palestinians say is unfair U. S. support for Israel. In a statement, the group said Sunday the Palestinian factions „affirm their rejection of the American position, which is biased in favor of the occupation.“ ____ 8: 20 p.m. The Hamas militant group has lashed out at President Donald Trump for mentioning it with al-Qaeda and the Islamic State in his speech in Saudi Arabia. Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum says from Gaza City that Trump’s remarks Sunday are a „misrepresentation of facts.“ He dubbed the speech a „confirmation“ that Trump is following the policy of previous administrations. Hamas says its battle is against Israel, not the West, and it has tried to rebrand itself by tweaking its charter. But the U. S., along with Israel and others, shun it as a terror group. Hamas targeted civilians in suicide bombings during a Palestinian uprising a decade ago. It has fought three wars with Israel since seizing Gaza from forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007. The U. S. recognizes Abbas as the representative of the Palestinians. ___ 6: 35 p.m. President Donald Trump called on Middle Eastern leaders to combat a „crisis of Islamic extremism“ emanating from the region, casting the fight against terrorism as a „battle between good and evil, “ not a clash between the West and Islam. Trump spoke Sunday during a meeting of more than 50 Arab and Muslim leaders in Saudi Arabia. The speech was the centerpiece of Trump’s two-day visit to the country as part of his first overseas trip. Trump is putting the onus for combatting terrorism on the region and imploring Muslim leaders to aggressively fight extremists. He’ll attend the opening of a Global Center for Combatting Extremist Ideology later Sunday. ____ 6: 25 p.m. He spoke of „the crisis of Islamic extremists, “ “the Islamists“ and „Islamic terror of all kinds.“ But President Donald Trump did not use the phrase „radical Islamic terrorism“ in a major speech Sunday in front of Muslim leaders. As a candidate, Trump routinely railed against former President Barack Obama and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton for failing to use the specific phrase, insisting that, „Anyone who cannot name our enemy, is not fit to lead this country.“ Trump struck a more moderate tone in his first foreign policy speech, calling on Middle Eastern leaders to combat a „crisis of Islamic extremism“ emanating from the region. But he cast the fight against terrorism as a „battle between good and evil, “ not a clash between the West and Islam. ____ 6: 11 p.m. President Donald Trump says that Syrian President Bashar Assad has committed „unspeakable crimes“ bolstered by Iran. In an address to Muslim leaders gathered in Saudi Arabia Sunday, Trump called upon countries around the world to work together to end the humanitarian crisis in Syria. Trump denounced Iranian aggression in the region, and said that the „longest-suffering victims“ are the Iranian people. He says the Iranian people have „endured hardship and despair under their leaders‘ reckless pursuit of conflict and terror.“ ____ 5: 57 p.m. President Donald Trump says that every nation must shoulder the burden of rooting our terrorism from their countries. In an address to the leaders of Muslim-majority countries in Riyadh Sunday, Trump said, „Every nation has an absolute duty to ensure that terrorists find no quarter on their soil.“ Trump said terrorist groups „do nothing to inspire but kill.“ He said all countries must work together to „honestly“ confront „the crisis of Islamic extremists and the Islamists and Islamic terror of all kinds.“ Trump fell short of referencing „radical Islamic terrorism“ – a term he uses frequently at home and has condemned President Barack Obama for failing to say. ____ 5: 54 p.m. President Donald Trump is painting the fight against extremists as „a battle between good and evil.“ Trump is saying in his first major foreign policy address as president that the fight against terrorism „is not a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations. This is a battle between those who seek to obliterate human life and those who seek to protect it.“ He says that, „terrorist don’t worship God. They worship death.“ Trump is speaking in front of an audience of leaders from Arab and Muslim-majority nations. He says the U. S. is prepared to stand with those leaders in the fight against extremists, but that those countries must take the lead. He urged them to drive extremists „out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your community. Drive them out of your holy land.“ ____ 5: 44 p.m. President Donald Trump says that the overwhelming majority of victims of terrorist attacks are the „innocent people of the Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern nations.“ Speaking at the Arab-Islamic American Summit in Riyadh Sunday, Trump said that „95 percent of the victims of terrorist attacks are themselves Muslims.“ He said that terrorism must not only be measured by the number of dead, but the number of „vanished dreams.“ It’s a departure from his sometimes anti-Muslim rhetoric during his presidential campaign. ____ 5: 34 p.m. President Donald Trump says the U. S. seeks a „coalition of nations“ in the Middle East with the aim of „stamping out extremism.“ In his address to the Arab-Islamic American Summit in Riyadh, Trump is vowing to „strengthen America’s oldest friendships, and to seek new partners in pursuit of peace.“ Trump promised „that America will not seek to impose our way of life on others, but to outstretch our hands in the spirit cooperation and trust.“ ____ 5: 32 p.m. King Salman of Saudi Arabia says he is committed to stamping out the Islamic State group and other terrorist organizations. Salman is speaking at a gathering of the leaders of more than 50 majority-Muslim countries attending the Arab-Islamic-American Summit in Riyadh. He says that „we all, peoples and countries, reject in every language and in every form damaging the relations of Muslim countries with friendly countries and profiling countries based on a religious or sectarian basis.“ He’s also railing against Iran, calling the country „the spearhead of global terrorism.“ ____ 5: 01 p.m. The leaders of Arab and Muslim-majority countries are gathering to hear President Donald Trump speak in Saudi Arabia.
