The US has confirmed it will back the UK’s deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.The US State Department said it will hold talks with Mauritius in Port Louis, the island nation’s capital.A State Department spokesman said the talks will centre on the joint US-UK base on Diego Garcia.”The discussions will focus on bilateral security cooperation and effective implementation of security arrangements for the base to ensure its long-term, secure operation,” he said.
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It also confirmed its support of the United Kingdom to “proceed with its agreement with Mauritius concerning the Chagos archipelago”.The news will doubtless come as a blow to the four Chagos islanders who returned the archipelago to establish a permanent settlement in the early hours of Tuesday.The group has said they are living in tents – and expect 10 more arrivals in the next week.Robert Midgley, spokesman for the Friends of the British Overseas Territories, told GB News the US backing was “disappointing”.He added: “But it’s no real surprise because they have to prepare for any scenario to happen. “They have to prepare for the worst case scenario. They’re looking after themselves. “It’s clear they’re cutting a deal – which is actually very humiliating for the UK, because they’ve already said that they will do whatever is necessary to secure the base.”Chagossian First Minister Misley Mandarin told GB News yesterday: “I am not in exile anymore. This is my homeland.”He was joined by his father Michel Mandarin, 74, who he said was removed from the island when he was 14.Mr Mandarin said he wanted to make it possible for 322 Chagossians born on Ile du Coin, the largest island in the archipelago, to return.He added that he is pushing for them to “come home before they die”.Some 2,000 Chagossians were forcibly removed from the islands during the 1960s and 1970s and relocated to Mauritius and Britain.LATEST IN THE CHAGOS ISLANDS:Chagossians return home to establish permanent settlement ahead of Labour’s surrender’I DARE him to remove us!’ Keir Starmer handed stark warning as Chagossians return to islands in protest of ‘illegal’ surrenderNigel Farage overcome with emotion in heartfelt tribute as Chagossians fight back against LabourMauritius’s Attorney General Gavin Glover claimed the move was a “publicity stunt” designed to create conflict over the UK’s Chagos Islands agreement.The agreement allows Britain to retain control of the base on Diego Garcia on a 99-year lease, but hands control of the rest of the islands to Mauritius.Taxpayers will have to fork over billions of pounds for the deal.Mr Glover claimed to local outlet Radio Plus that the group landed illegally, but said Mauritius would not exercise any authority over Chagos until the treaty is ratified.The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination has urged the two countries to not go through with the deal, adding it would perpetuate historical rights violations.Last month, Donald Trump called the deal an “act of great stupidity” – months after the US first backed the deal.The US then U-turned earlier this month, with the President calling the agreement the “best Sir Keir Starmer could make”.He added: “However, if the lease deal, sometime in the future, ever falls apart, or anyone threatens or endangers US operations and forces at our base, I retain the right to militarily secure and reinforce the American presence in Diego Garcia.”Earlier this month, Conservative Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel said Mr Trump “recognises a critical weakness in the surrender deal”.She claimed her party, which started negotiations to give the islands away, “led the fight against this appalling surrender and we will continue fighting it to the end”.
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