{"id":27283,"date":"2024-01-16T09:04:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-16T09:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone"},"modified":"2024-01-16T09:30:14","modified_gmt":"2024-01-16T09:30:14","slug":"us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone","title":{"rendered":"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Set to Visit Sierra Leone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. <\/strong><\/span>United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Sierra Leone on January 23rd, 2024, according to a letter from the Office of the Chief Minister.<\/b><\/p>\n

The purpose of the visit remains unclear, but it marks a significant diplomatic moment for the country.<\/p>\n

The letter, written by Kenei Lamin, Permanent Secretary of the Chief Minister\u2019s Office, requests a landing permit for a US military aircraft transporting Secretary Blinken to Freetown International Airport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI write to inform you that the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken will arrive at the Freetown International Airport on 23rd January 2024. In view of the above, I hereby request for a Landing permit for the US Military Aircraft that will be used.\u201d the letter addressed to the Director-General of the Sierra Leone Civil Aviation Authority (SLCAA) reads.<\/p>\n

The US Secretary had previously travelled to Tu\u0308rkiye, Greece, Jordan, Qatar, U.A.E., Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, Bahrain, and Egypt as tensions remain high amid Israel\u2019s escalating war against Hamas in Gaza.<\/p>\n

While the specific agenda for the visit to Sierra Leone is not yet public, speculation suggests it could focus on topics ranging from regional security and democracy to economic development and post-pandemic recovery efforts.<\/p>\n

The United States has refused to congratulate President Julius Maada Bio since his re-election in 2023. Rather, it expressed concerns regarding the transparency of the election procedures, particularly during the tallying phase.<\/p>\n

On August 31, the U.S. State Department imposed visa restrictions on individuals \u201csuspected of undermining Sierra Leone\u2019s democracy,\u201d which encompasses activities like vote manipulation or intimidating election monitors.<\/p>\n

The United States also suspended Sierra Leone\u2019s participation in the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact grant but re-selected in 2024 it on condition that the agreement of national unity which followed an inter-party post-election peace dialogue is fully implemented.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Sierra-Leone<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Sierra-Leone. United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Sierra Leone on January 23rd, 2024, according to a letter from the Office of the Chief Minister. The purpose of the visit remains unclear, but it marks a significant diplomatic moment for the country. The letter, written by Kenei Lamin, Permanent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":27282,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,12],"tags":[291,293,292],"class_list":["post-27283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-policy","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-sierra-leone","tag-sierra-leone"],"yoast_head":"\nUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken Set to Visit Sierra Leone - Sierra Leone<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Sierra Leone on January 23rd, 2024, according to a le ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Set to Visit Sierra Leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to visit Sierra Leone on January 23rd, 2024, according to a le ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sierra Leone\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-01-16T09:04:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-16T09:30:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1705384772.185897.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Set to Visit Sierra Leone\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-01-16T09:04:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-01-16T09:30:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone\"},\"wordCount\":326,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/sites\/16\/2024\/01\/sm_1705384772.185897.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Sierra-Leone\",\"Sierra-Leone\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/sierra-leone\/all-news\/us-secretary-of-state-antony-blinken-set-to-visit-sierra-leone\",\"name\":\"US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Set to Visit Sierra Leone - 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