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US designates Wagner military company as Entity of Particular Concern — Secretary of State

Antony Blinken yet again designated Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan "as Countries of Particular Concern under the US International Religious Freedom Act of 1998"

WASHINGTON, December 2. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has included the Wagner military company in the list of organizations causing concern in the sphere of religious freedom.

"I am designating al-Shabab, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (outlawed in Russia - TASS), the Houthis, <…> the Taliban (outlawed in Russia), and the Wagner Group based on its actions in the Central African Republic as Entities of Particular Concern," according to Blinken’s written statement published by the Department of State’s press service on Friday.

Additionally, Blinken yet again designated Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan "as Countries of Particular Concern under the [US] International Religious Freedom Act of 1998" because the State Department thinks that their authorities "engaged in or tolerated particularly severe violations of religious freedom."

Additionally, the Department of State placed Algeria, the Central African Republic, Comoros, and Vietnam "on the Special Watch List for engaging in or tolerating severe violations of religious freedom."

In June, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that a US Department of State report on international religious freedom distorted Russia’s policy in the religious sphere, and its objective was to meddle in the internal affairs of the country.

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United States Antony Blinken

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