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‘Go to hell’: Duterte tells Obama
Duterte, who took office in June, has been hypersensitive to criticism over his crackdown, which has left more than an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the US and human rights watchdogs. The tough-talking former city mayor, who
Manila : Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told his US ally Barack Obama "you can go to hell" in a speech on Tuesday that was his latest tirade against the US over its criticism of his deadly anti-drug campaign. He also lashed out anew at the European Union, saying the 28-nation bloc, which has also criticised his brutal crackdown, "better choose purgatory, hell is filled up."
Duterte, who took office in June, has been hypersensitive to criticism over his crackdown, which has left more than an estimated 3,000 suspected drug dealers and pushers dead in just three months, alarming the United Nations, the EU, the US and human rights watchdogs. The tough-talking former city mayor, who describes himself as a left-leaning leader, has had an uneasy relationship with the US and with Obama and has declared intentions to bolster relations with China and Russia as he revamps the country's foreign policy that has long leaned on Washington.
Instead of helping us, the first to criticize is this State Department, so you can go to hell, Mr Obama, you can go to hell," Duterte said. Then addressing the EU, he said: "Better choose purgatory, hell is filled up." Angered by US criticism, Duterte has made a series of public pronouncements that he could scale back the activities and presence of visiting US troops in the country. He said he wanted them out of the volatile south, saying their presence has inflamed restiveness among minority Muslims, which could complicate efforts to forge a peace accord with Muslim insurgents.
