Philippines President, Rodrigo Duterte, has blamed conflicts in Middle Eastern countries on foreign intervention, insisting that the United States “imported terrorism”.
Duterte told Muslim Filipinos attending an Eid al-Fitr celebration on Friday in southern Davao City, “It is not that the Middle East is exporting terrorism in America. America imported terrorism”.
GMA News quoted him as saying, “They [U.S.-led coalition] forced their way into Iraq and killed Saddam. Look at Iraq now. Look what happened to Libya. Look what happened to Syria”.
#Duterte: #US Destroying the #MiddleEast, Importing #Terrorism https://t.co/9RojapOZBc #Iraq #Syria #Libya #news #media #Philippines #terror
— The Santos Republic (@santosrepublic) July 9, 2016
Duterte described the Iraqi population as having been “pushed to the wall for the failed promises”.
Duterte compared conflicts in the Middle East to violence in Mindanao, his home island, and home also to several armed Muslim rebel groups, saying that colonialism had forced the indigenous people to convert to Christianity.
(PC, MEMO)
