May 26, 2017•Update: May 26, 2017
By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal
LONDON
U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday said his country took “full responsibility” for intelligence leaks which enabled U.S. media outlets to publish sensitive information about Monday’s suicide bombing in Manchester.
Speaking in London, an apologetic Tillerson expressed American “regrets” over the leaks, which have strained the relationship between Britain and the U.S.
"This special relationship that exists between our two countries will certainly withstand this particular unfortunate event," Tillerson said.
The spat deepened on Thursday with reports Britain’s security agencies had stopped sharing some information with their American counterparts.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday also called for a "complete review" into how sensitive information concerning Manchester ended up in the American media.
Tillerson, speaking in a joint news conference with U.K. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, also described mass immigration as a “challenge” when confronting terrorism.
“Immigration is a significant challenge in how we confront acts of terrorism. We seem to have difficulty assimilating those people so that they feel part of our society and would never consider supporting acts of violence against their fellow citizens and their fellow neighbors,” he said.
“This mass migration of people ... is a problem for countries all over the world. It is one we have to learn better how to address,” Tillerson added.
Johnson said the U.S. and the U.K. were “countries that in many ways are built on immigration”.
Bringing up his own family’s past -- his great-grandfather was an Ottoman official -- Johnson said “integration is possible”.
Johnson said: “My great-grandfather was a Muslim. And he came to this country, indeed he came to Wimbledon in the early part of the last century. I went on to become the Mayor of London and indeed foreign secretary. So integration is possible. It is what we should aspire to.”
