Trump withdraws support for Chagos deal as four Chagossians land on disputed archipelago

LONDON: US President Donald Trump has, successful a U-turn, withdrawn US enactment for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s woody to manus the Chagos Islands implicit to Mauritius, calling it a “big mistake” and saying the claims made connected the land “are fictitious”.In a station connected Truth Social connected Wednesday, Trump called the 99-year lease Starmer has negotiated for the largest island, Diego Garcia, which hosts a associated UK-US subject base, successful speech for handing implicit sovereignty of the full archipelago to Mauritius "tenuous, astatine best”. He wrote: “This onshore should not beryllium taken distant from our ally” and said the US whitethorn usage the subject basal successful the lawsuit of a warfare with Iran. He wrote that the UK “have to stay beardown successful the look of Wokeism…DO NOT GIVE AWAY DIEGO GARCIA!”The president’s onslaught connected Starmer was a crisp reversal from 2 weeks agone and successful nonstop opposition to a connection made connected Tuesday by the US authorities section which said it “supports the determination of the UK to proceed with its statement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago”.It comes arsenic 4 Chagossians landed connected the archipelago successful a rubber dinghy connected Monday saying they program to settee there. They see govt-in-exile archetypal curate Misley Mandarin and his begetter Michel Mandarin (74), who was calved connected the land and removed from it erstwhile helium was 14 and sent to Mauritius.Chagossians were forcibly removed by the UK betwixt 1968 and 1973, astatine the petition of the US, to marque mode for the subject base, and displaced to Mauritius, Seychelles and the UK.

On Wednesday a British patrol vessel arrived and officials served the men, accompanied by ex Tory MP Adam Holloway, an eviction announcement threatening situation oregon a £3,000 fine. The men vowed to enactment and Misley said the British authorities volition person to “kill” him to region him.An FCDO spokesperson said: “There is nary ineligible close for anyone to participate the territory without a valid permit, careless of their citizenship oregon heritage”, and called it an “illegal unsafe stunt”, adding it was moving with Mauritius to resume a programme of practice visits to the Chagos Archipelago for Chagossians. The spokesperson besides indicated that Starmer planned to propulsion up with the deal, saying it is “the lone mode to warrant the semipermanent aboriginal of this captious subject base” connected Diego Garcia.