White House says no ransoms for Americans held by ISNovember 19, 2014 - 11:25 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The United States will not pay ransoms for those Americans, who are being held hostage overseas, despite U.S. President Barack Obama's request to review the U.S. response to such situations, White House spokesperson said. "The reason we [the United States] are not reviewing the policy as it relates to not paying ransom is that our views on this are clear… we don't want to put other American citizens at an even risk when they are around the globe," Josh Earnest said at a press briefing on Tuesday, Nov 18, according to Sputnik. "Based on our insight into the way that ISIL works… they rely on these sort of ransom payments as a very important source of their financing," Earnest said. "So shutting off that [ransom payments] source of financing is an important part of our strategy for defeating them." Earnest added that the US Department of Defense, the Department of State, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other members of the intelligence community have been reviewing the U.S. hostage response efforts, but would not say when the review would be concluded. On Sunday, American aid worker Peter Kassig was executed by IS fighters after he was captured by the group in Eastern Syria in October 2013. Top stories Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev arrived in Moscow on April 22 to hold talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". Partner news | Armenia, Turkey discuss restoration of historic bridge The meeting took place on May 17 in Ashgabat on the sidelines of an international conference of ministers of culture. India wants Armenia’s proposals on use of Chabahar port India is expecting proposals from Armenia regarding the use of Chabahar port in Iran, Indian ambassador says. EU welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan “progress” The EU has welcomed “progress” made in the framework of the Armenia-Azerbaijan border delimitation process. Belarus opposition leader slams Lukashenko for Karabakh trip Belarusian opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya has harshly criticized the visit of Lukashenko to Karabakh. |