- As Iran Leader Says Politics Only Way to End Syrian War
The wife of Nigerian President, Hajia Aisha Buhari, on Monday evening met with the First Lady of the United States, FLOTUS, Michelle Obama, in New York, during the wife of the United States’ Broadway event to help educate girls.
Mrs Buhari took to her Twitter handle, @aishambuhari, to express her pleasure in meeting Michelle Obama about girl empowerment.
“It was a pleasure meeting @FLOTUS Michelle Obama earlier this evening at her broadway event about girl empowerment,” she wrote on Twitter.
Mrs Obama, on Monday, went to Broadway to host a concert for the spouses of world leaders, who had come to the US to attend the 71st United Nations General Assembly.
On the sidelines of the 71st UN General Session, President Buhari will on Tuesday meet with his United States counterpart, Barrack Obama, as both countries have pending agreement over the sale of US military equipment, especially attack helicopters to fight the insurgents.
Recall that the Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose had challenged the wife of the President, Hajia Aisha Buhari, to prove her innocence in the Halliburton scandal by travelling to the United States.
Speaking about the Broadway event, Mrs Obama said: “More than 62 million girls around the world are counting on us to be their voice. And I intend to continue speaking out on their behalf _ not just for the rest of my time as first lady but for the rest of my life. And I hope that you all will join me.”
The meeting included performances from the female-centric shows “The Color Purple,” “Waitress,” “Wicked” and “Beautiful: The Carole King Musical.”
“When people hear stories of girls who aren’t in school, they want to help. And as spouses of world leaders, so many of us here in this room have a platform that we can use to tell these stories and bring people together to take action for these girls. Because people will pick up the phone when we call,” the FLOTUS said.
In the meantime, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whose country has supported the regime of Syrian leader Bashar Assad, said Wednesday that politics, not fighting, will bring the civil war there to an end.
“What is of utmost importance is to understand that Syria doesn’t have a military solution,” Rouhani told NBC News’ Chuck Todd. “And the Syrians’ problems must certainly be resolved politically. Only politically.”
Fighting has devastated the country, with more than 400,000 people estimated to have been killed since 2011 and 11 million more displaced.
Rouhani stopped short of saying Assad should remain in power. Instead, he stressed that Syria’s boundaries and territory remain unchanged, and that the country’s leadership be decided by voters.
Syria is technically a democracy, although Assad has faced only token political competition. He won re-election two years ago as the civil war raged, a landslide win amid voting restricted to government-held territories.
“The rule of the ballot box and the rule of the Syrian people and the will of the Syrian people should be the sole determinant of the future of the country,” Rouhani said.
Rouhani also dismissed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s demand Wednesday that Syria and Russia ground all aircraft in the northern part of the country after the bombing of a humanitarian convoy threatened a precarious ceasefire. The Pentagon has blamed Russia for the attack.
Doing so, Rouhani said, would help ISIS and the Nusra Front, two terror groups fighting the Syrian government.
“They must be kept under pressure,” Rouhani said. “If we ground planes it would 100 percent benefit them.”
Rouhani pointed out that American military aircraft on Saturday bombed a Syrian government installation — the United States has called it a mistake — that reportedly killed dozens of Assad’s troops.
The Iranian president also discussed the agreement reached last year that restricted his country’s nuclear program in exchange for the loosening of economic sanctions.
Rouhani accused the U.S. Treasury Department of making it hard for banks and other financial institutions from doing business with Iran. Rouhani asserted that Iran has no intention of building nuclear weapons after the agreement expires after eight years.
He dismissed American criticism of the deal — particularly from Donald Trump, who has called it a horrible deal that he would renegotiate and has said it would lead to a “nuclear holocaust.” Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, has said she would “distrust and verifiy” Iran’s commitment to the agreement.
Rouhani said no single country, or president, could unravel the agreement, which included seven countries and the United Nations and is policed by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“Candidates can bring up any topic that they see best suits their campaigns,” Rouhani said.
He added, “No one can say here or there that I don’t accept this agreement, I want to renegotiate.”
Upshot with additional report from MSN
