World

KABUL — An ordinary, albeit strikingly clear, headshot of the secretive Afghan Taliban’s newly appointed chieftain has triggered a flurry of speculation over the motive behind its release.

A picture of Haibatullah Akhundzada was unofficially circulated on social media soon after he was declared the new Taliban leader on Wednesday, taking jihadi watchers by surprise.

Only a grainy image of Mullah Omar, the insurgent group’s secretive one-eyed founder who died two years ago, was published and the Taliban released a coarse handout photo of his successor Mullah Akhtar Mansour. 

So why was a high-resolution portrait photo, showing Akhundzada with a salt-and-pepper beard, circulated just days after Mansour was incinerated in a US drone strike in Pakistan? And who was behind it? 

Those questions have prompted an international avalanche of social media speculation.

“If u were the Taliban wld u want [pictures] of your leader splashed around so he can be droned easily?” one Twitter user said.

“Oh hey look the Taliban have released a picture of their latest hellfire-missile-bait leader,” said another.

A member of the Taliban’s media commission sought to downplay the speculation, saying the picture was taken more than 12 years ago when Akhundzada went on hajj pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. 

“Now Akhundzada is an old man with a white beard but we cannot release his latest picture for security reasons,” he told AFP.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid added another layer of intrigue, telling AFP the group had not intended to release his picture but was forced to confirm its authenticity after it made a splash online.

“We don’t know who did it,” he told AFP.

Taliban expert Rahimullah Yousafzai suggested the picture may have been released by insurgent sympathisers rather than the group. 

“The new Taliban chief is an Islamic scholar and he too will not like a picture of his in the media,” he said.

“But now that it has been published they have no way to take it back.” 

The clarity of the image has led some to speculate that intelligence agencies were behind its circulation.

“The clear portrait shot... looks like something from the archives of a security agency,” one Western official in Kabul told AFP. 

When the Taliban ruled Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, almost all electronic products were outlawed as un-Islamic.

Photographs of living things were illegal and ownership of a video player could lead to a public lashing.

But the Taliban have avidly embraced electronic communication and social media in recent years as a recruitment tool and to promote their propaganda.

“We know that we can’t go forward without the help of media,” the member of the media commission said. 

KABUL — The Afghan Taliban on Wednesday announced Haibatullah Akhundzada as their new chief, elevating a low-profile religious figure in a swift power transition after officially confirming the death of Mullah Mansour in a US drone strike.

The surprise announcement coincided with a Taliban suicide bombing near Kabul which killed at least 10 court employees in what was termed a revenge, illustrating the potency of the insurgency despite the change of leadership.

Akhundzada is seen as a unifying figure in an increasingly fragmented militant movement, though it remains unclear whether he will follow Mansour in shunning peace negotiations with the Afghan government.

“Haibatullah Akhundzada has been appointed as the new leader of the Islamic Emirate (Taliban) after a unanimous agreement in the shura (supreme council), and all the members of shura pledged allegiance to him,” the insurgents said in a statement.

It added that Sirajuddin Haqqani, an implacable foe of US forces, and Mullah Yakoub, the son of Taliban founder Mullah Omar, were appointed his deputies.

“The leader of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan and commander of faithful, Mullah Akhtar Mansour, was martyred, in a US drone strike in... Pakistan’s Balochistan province,” the statement said, in the insurgents’ first confirmation of his death, using the Taliban’s official name.

US President Barack Obama, who authorised the drone strikes, had confirmed the death Monday. He said Mansour had rejected efforts “to seriously engage in peace talks”, asserting that direct negotiations with the Afghan government were the only way to end the attritional conflict.

Status quo unchanged 

“The status quo remains unchanged” after Akhundzada’s appointment, Taliban expert Rahimullah Yousafzai told AFP.

“I don’t foresee any shift from Mansour’s policies. He is unlikely to negotiate with the Afghan government.” 

Other observers say Akhundzada, who was one of two deputies under Mansour, is seen as more of a religious figure than a military commander.

“Even if he favours peace talks, he is unlikely to proceed without consensus within the supreme council” where many vehemently oppose negotiations, said analyst Amir Rana.

The US killing of Mansour showed that Washington has at least for now abandoned hopes of reviving the direct peace talks between Kabul and the Taliban which broke down last summer.

It marked a significant shift for Washington, highlighting a new willingness to target the group’s leaders in Pakistan and risk retaliatory attacks against struggling Afghan security forces.

Saturday’s drone attack, the first known American assault on a top Afghan Taliban leader on Pakistani soil, sent shockwaves through the insurgent movement which had seen a resurgence under Mansour.

He was killed just nine months after being formally appointed leader following a bitter power struggle upon confirmation of founder Mullah Omar’s death.

The Taliban’s supreme council held emergency meetings that began Sunday in southwest Pakistan to try to find a unifying figure for the leadership post.

Taliban sources told AFP council members were lying low and constantly changing the venue of their meetings to avoid any fresh air strikes.

The Taliban said Wednesday’s suicide attack in Paghman district near Kabul was in revenge for the execution of six Taliban-linked inmates.

The executions earlier this month were approved as part of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s new hardline policy against the insurgents after a brazen Taliban attack in April killed at least 64 people.

PARIS — France said Wednesday it had been forced to dip into strategic fuel reserves due to blockades at refineries as power station workers threatened to join gathering protests against a labour law reform.

With queues at petrol stations lengthening by the day, Prime Minister Manuel Valls warned the CGT union leading the disruption at refineries and fuel depots that it "does not make the law in France".

The CGT, locked in an increasingly bitter struggle with the government, has called for its action to be extended Thursday to nuclear power stations that supply 75 per cent of the country's electricity.

It has also called for rallies in major cities, upping the stakes after three months of protests against the reforms that have brought hundreds of thousands on to the streets.

France has nearly four months of fuel reserves and President Francois Hollande told a Cabinet meeting that "everything will be done to ensure the French people and the economy is supplied".

But petrol shortages were becoming acute in many regions of France, and were spreading to Paris. 

Viviane, a 66-year-old pensioner queuing to fill up her car in the Allier area of central France, said the situation reminded her of May 1968, when students and workers paralysed France for two weeks in protest at president Charles de Gaulle's government.

"I remember May '68 and I can tell you the shortages were no joke so I am taking precautions," she said.

"The current climate worries me, it's really not good, I fear a revolution." 

Worried drivers were using online apps to find petrol stations that still had fuel.

Notices at many filling stations said drivers were limited to just 20 litres of fuel each and the filling of jerry cans was banned.

The Ufip oil industry federation confirmed that with around a third of the country's 12,000 petrol pumps running dry, it had begun using strategic reserves.

Football fans will flood into France in two weeks' time when it begins hosting the Euro 2016 football championships, adding to the pressure on the government.

Ahead of Thursday's possible strike, one nuclear power plant in Nogent-sur-Seine, around 100 kilometres southeast of Paris, is already operating at reduced capacity.

Police smash barricades 

As well as releasing fuel reserves, authorities stepped up efforts to break blockades.

Watched by 80 striking workers, riot police used water cannon to move burning tyres blocking access to a key oil depot in Douchy-les-Mines near the Belgian border that had been in place since Thursday.

"The police moved in quickly. They used water cannon. We got the feeling they were tense," Willy Dans, a spokesman for the local branch of the SUD union, told AFP.

Most petrol stations in that area were empty, forcing motorists to hop over the border to Belgium to fill up.

Police also removed a blockade at a fuel depot in the western Port of Brest.

Transport was further hampered by a rolling train strike that was due to continue on Thursday.

Some companies said the fuel blockades were starting to hit their business.

"It's beginning to get to a critical point," said Pascal Barre, who runs a logistics firm in Poincy, east of the capital.

"We filled up at the end of last week and at the beginning of this week but our drivers need to fill up again and it's not possible." 

He warned: "If we can't deliver to shops and supermarkets, it's going to put France on its knees."

 CGT leader Philippe Martinez has vowed to continue the action until the labour legislation is withdrawn.

The blockades have sparked warnings from oil giant Total, which operates five of the refineries affected, that it will be forced to reconsider its investment plans in France.

Martinez hit back Wednesday, accusing Total of "blackmail".

Protesters are furious that the government rammed the controversial labour market reforms through parliament without a vote.

The reforms are designed to address France's famously rigid labour market by making it easier to hire and fire workers.

But opponents say they are too pro-business and will do little to reduce France's jobless rate of around 10 per cent.

SEOUL — Visiting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday left open the possibility of running for the South Korean presidency after his term with the world body ends.

Ban arrived in his home country earlier Wednesday for a six-day visit that has fuelled speculation he is considering a tilt at its top job.

“On January 1 next year, I will be back as a South Korean,” the national news agency Yonhap quoted Ban as telling journalists in the southern island of Jeju.

“I will contemplate and decide then what I should do as a South Korean citizen and I may ask for your advice if necessary.” 

Yonhap said the remarks were the clearest indication yet that Ban was actively considering a presidential bid, although he stressed that he wanted to focus on his current job until his term ends at the end of this year.

Ban’s schedule involves a number of international gatherings, including a peace forum in Jeju.

While he is not expected to hold any formal talks with political officials during his trip, his future has been the main topic of media coverage in the run-up to his arrival.

The soft-spoken 71-year-old will step down as UN chief a year before South Korea’s presidential election in December 2017.

The ruling conservative Saenuri Party, which suffered a shock defeat in parliamentary polls in April, has made it clear it would welcome Ban as its candidate.

Ban enjoys high popularity ratings in South Korea, where his position is a source of substantial national pride.

Speculation over his political ambitions has been making the rounds for years but Ban has studiously declined substantive comment.

Saenuri party officials have been less circumspect.

“The UN Secretary General is the world’s president, and Ban is so experienced and well-connected with all the world’s leaders after serving in the top UN job for 10 years,” Saenuri Party lawmaker Ahn Hong-Joon said in a radio interview Wednesday.

“Now it’s time for South Korea to put him to good use.” 

Not everyone is similarly enamoured with the prospect of a Ban presidency. Some critics suggest his connections would throw up conflicts of interest. 

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, seen as a possible liberal candidate in 2017, said Ban should recuse himself from politics for several years after leaving the UN.

“A UN chief can access a slew of confidential information about many countries and I think one can unfairly take advantage of the information when serving a particular country,” Park said in a radio interview Wednesday. 

A career diplomat, Ban never joined any South Korean political party, although he served as foreign minister under the late liberal president Roh Moo-hyun from 2004 to 2006.

IDOMENI, Greece — Greece sent in police and bulldozers on Tuesday to knock down tents and relocate hundreds of migrants who had been stranded for months in a squalid, makeshift camp on the border with Macedonia.

Several busloads of people, most of them families with children, left the sprawling expanse of tents at Idomeni to move to state-run centres further south. Buses were lined up ready to take more, Reuters witnesses said.

By the latest count at least 8,000 people were camped at Idomeni in difficult, overcrowded conditions with poor sanitation, ignoring previous calls by the government to leave.

As many as 12,000, mainly Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis, were stuck there at one point after Balkan countries shut their borders in February, barring them from crossing to central and northern Europe.

Greece was the main entry point for more than a million migrants who made it to Europe last year, mostly after perilous sea crossings. New arrivals there have slowed sharply since the European Union struck a deal with Turkey to get it to curb the flow, but the government says there are still more than 54,000 migrants on Greek soil.

It plans to move people gradually to state-supervised facilities which currently have a capacity of about 5,000. About 1,500 people had been relocated by late afternoon, police said.

“The evacuation is progressing without any problem,” said Giorgos Kyritsis, a government spokesman on the migration crisis. They would be relocated “ideally by the end of the week”, he said. “We haven’t put a strict deadline on it.” 

Poor conditions

A police official said about 1,000 people continued to block the sole railway tracks linking Greece and Macedonia, closed off for weeks by protesters demanding passage to northern Europe.

Trains were forced to divert through Bulgaria to the east, and some goods wagons have been stranded on the tracks for weeks.

“This should have happened a long time ago,” said Anastasios Sachpelidis, a local transporters association representative. The closure was “a big loss”, he said. “We lost clients, we lost money, time and our credibility.” 

Human rights groups had raised alarm about the deteriorating conditions at Idomeni, where children slept in the open, scuffles broke out over food and Macedonia forces tear-gassed migrants who tried to storm past the razor-wire fence.

International charity Save the Children said it was also concerned about a lack of basic services such as bathrooms and shelters for children in some of the official camps.

“Many of the children, especially lone children, have been through enough trauma already,” said Amy Frost, Greece team leader. “Relocations to formal camps need to be managed sensitively to ensure the process is not adding to the trauma.” 

The United Nations refugee agency said Greece had to ensure the individuals now had access to asylum.

“That has been an issue — making sure Greece has this capacity to do that. It is something that we have to continue to watch,” spokesman Adrian Edwards told a briefing in Geneva. 

ISTANBUL — President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday warned the European Union that the Turkish parliament would block laws related to the landmark deal to stem the flow of migrants to Europe if Ankara was not granted its key demand of visa-free travel.

“If that is not what will happen... no decision and no law in the framework of the readmission agreement will come out of the parliament of the Turkish Republic,” Erdogan said at the close of the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul.

There have been growing indications Turks will not be given the visa-free travel by the target of the end of this month and Chancellor Angela Merkel warned after talks with Erdogan on Monday that the target was unlikely to be met.

The agreement — which is already being implemented — saw Turkey pledge to work to stop migrants cross the Aegean to Europe and also re-admit migrants who crossed illegally.

EU officials have hailed the success of the deal, but Ankara has grown increasingly uneasy about the bloc’s wariness to grant it the visa-free travel to the passport free Schengen Area it was offered in return.

Erdogan also complained about the EU’s wariness in handing over to Turkey a promise of 3 billion euros followed by another 3 billion to help Syrian refugees.

“Turkey is not asking for favours, what we want is honesty,” Erdogan said.

“Turkey is supposed to fulfil criteria? What criteria are these I ask you?” he asked in an angry tirade that overshadowed the end of the summit.

EU leaders are insisting that Turkey abides by 72 conditions before the visa exemption takes place, with a demand to change counterterror laws proving particularly contentious.

The EU wants Ankara to narrow its definition of terror to stop prosecuting academics and journalists for publishing “terror propaganda”. 

Turkey has refused to do so, pointing out it is in the midst of a campaign against Kurdish militants.

Erdogan complained Latin American countries were not asked such strict conditions as Turkey to be given visa-free travel.

“Turkey on the other hand is a candidate country, so why are you asking for these conditions, all these question marks?” he said.

KABUL, Afghanistan — The death of the leader of the Afghan Taliban in a US drone strike last week could make the insurgent movement stronger by bringing back dissident commanders and unifying the movement’s ranks, a senior Afghan Taliban figure said on Tuesday.

Mullah Mohammad Ghous, a foreign minister during the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule of Afghanistan, told The Associated Press that Mullah Akhtar Mansour’s death cleared the way for those who left after he became leader to return to the insurgency.

Mansour was killed on Saturday in the strike in southwestern Pakistan, just over the border from Afghanistan.

His death has been confirmed by some senior Taliban members, as well as Washington and Kabul. The Taliban has yet to formally announce his death.

Mansour had led the Taliban since last summer, when the death of founder Mullah Mohammad Omar became public. Mansour ran the movement in Mullah Omar’s name for more than two years. The revelation of Mullah Omar’s death and Mansour’s deception led to widespread mistrust, with some senior leaders leaving to set up their own factions.

Some of these rivals fought Mansour’s men for land, mostly in the opium poppy-growing southern Taliban heartland.

Ghous said a faction loyal to the leader of a major breakaway faction, Mullah Mohammad Rasool — who is believed to be detained in Pakistan — could rejoin the main branch “bringing greater strength”.

“Once the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour is confirmed, Mullah Rasool’s group will have no excuse,” he said.

Mansour is widely said to have been a major player in Afghanistan’s multibillion-dollar drug production and smuggling business, which along with other contraband helps fund the insurgency.

Western diplomats in Kabul have said that Mansour had been in contact with Iran and Russia in recent months, in a bid to diversify his support base away from Pakistan. Pakistan’s ISI secret service has long been suspected of supporting the Taliban leadership in cities over the border from Afghanistan, notably Quetta and Peshawar.

Russia and Iran are believed to have reached out to Taliban groups in recent months as a counterweight to the Daesh terror group’s presence in Afghanistan. Mansour is believed to have been returning from Iran when he was targeted by the US drone. He was travelling on a Pakistani passport under a false name, according to sources in the Taliban.

“The Taliban needs financial and strategic support, so as leader of the movement Mullah Akhtar Mansour had to look for it in difference places — and that meant he had to travel to different countries,” Ghous said, adding that Mansour regularly visited Dubai, Qatar and other countries including Iran, which borders western Afghanistan.

Ghous said that it was widely accepted within the upper ranks of the Taliban that Iran also facilitated contact with Russia for Mansour. “We all know Iran and Russia are linked nowadays, so if Mullah Akhtar Mansour is meeting with Iran it must be with the knowledge of Russia.” 

Another respected veteran in the insurgency, religious scholar Mullah Hameedullah, agreed that Mansour’s death removed an obstacle to unity.

As senior figures gather in Pakistan to discuss the movement’s next leader, both Ghous and Hameedullah said the choice of successor would impact whether or not the Taliban chooses war or peace.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani, who took office in 2014, assiduously courted Pakistan in an effort to bring the Taliban into a dialogue that would lead to peace talks. Mansour, however, refused, choosing instead to intensify the war, now in its 15th year, once the international combat mission drew down to a training and support role in 2015.

Among the main contenders for the leadership role are Mansour’s deputy, Sirajuddin Haqqani, leader of the notorious Haqqani network — the faction behind some of the most ferocious attacks in Afghanistan since the war began in 2001. The Haqqanis are wealthy, and able to attract funding even as competition among Islamist organisations grows.

The son of Mullah Omar, Mullah Yaqub is also believed to be a viable candidate. He publicly objected to Mansour’s elevation, believing it to have been rigged among a small clique, but earlier this year decided to reconcile with the Mansour. He controls the Taliban military commissions for 15 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces.

Discussions on the future of the organisation are said to be robust and sources attending have said it could be some time before a decision emerges.

Ghous said: “You never know who will be the next leader.

“I have always preferred that there should be peace talks and I am still saying there should be peace talks,” Ghous said. But he added that the deadly US strike on Mansour’s vehicle — believed to be the first US drone hit inside Pakistani territory — had prompted some wariness in the Taliban leadership.

“This American strike that killed Mullah Akhtar Mansour might not effect peace talks so much, but if they strike again or if they kill any other leader, then I think we will not see peace talks in my lifetime,” he said.

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s interior minister said on Tuesday he could not confirm that Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour had been killed in a US drone strike, and described Washington’s justification for the attack as “against international law”.

US President Barack Obama said on Monday that Mansour had been killed in the drone attack, and the Pentagon said separately that Mansour was plotting attacks that posed “specific, imminent threats” to US troops in Afghanistan.

On Tuesday, Pakistani Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told reporters that the body recovered near the Afghan border was charred beyond recognition, adding that DNA samples would be tested against a relative who had come forward to claim the body.

“The government of Pakistan cannot announce this without a scientific and legal basis,” Khan told a news briefing.

He did not identify the relative or say whether he or she claimed to be related to the Taliban leader or someone else.

Khan criticised US statements that the drone strike, which he said hit a car on Pakistani soil but was fired “from another country”, was justified because Mansour was plotting attacks.

“For the US government to say that whoever is a threat to them will be targeted wherever they are, that is against international law.

“This could have serious implications for the Pakistan-US relationship,” Khan said, adding that decisions would be made once Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif returned from abroad.

Pakistan and the United States have been uneasy allies in the war against Islamist militants in the region.

US critics accuse Pakistan of allowing the Afghan Taliban’s leadership to take shelter on its territory, something that Islamabad has denied.

The militant movement has made territorial gains and carried out a series of deadly attacks across Afghanistan since NATO forces officially wound down their combat mission at the end of 2014, undermining the Western-backed government in Kabul.

HANOI, Vietnam — US President Barack Obama on Monday lifted a half-century-old ban on selling arms to Vietnam, looking to bolster a government seen as a crucial, though flawed partner in a region that he has tried to place at the centre of his foreign policy legacy.

Obama announced the full removal of the embargo at a news conference where he vowed to leave behind the troubled history between the former war enemies and embrace a new era with a young, increasingly prosperous nation. Obama steered clear of harsh condemnation of what critics see as Vietnam’s abysmal treatment of dissidents, describing instead modest progress on rights in the one-party state. Activists said his decision to lift the embargo destroyed the best US leverage for pushing Vietnam on abuse.

“At this stage, both sides have established a level of trust and cooperation, including between our militaries, that is reflective of common interests and mutual respect,” Obama said. “This change will ensure that Vietnam has access to the equipment it needs to defend itself and removes a lingering vestige of the Cold War.” 

Obama also has more current motivations. His move was the latest step in a yearslong and uneven effort to counter China’s influence in Asia. Obama’s push to deepen defence ties with a neighbour was certain to be eyed with suspicion in Beijing, which has bristled at US engagement in the region and warned officials not to take sides in the heated territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Obama claimed the move had nothing to do with China, but made clear the US was aligned with the smaller nations like Vietnam.

The United States and Vietnam have mutual concerns about maritime issues and the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, he said. While Washington doesn’t take sides, he said, it does support a diplomatic resolution based on “international norms” and “not based on who’s the bigger party and can throw around their weight a little bit more”, a reference to China.

China outwardly lauded the lifting of a US arms embargo, saying it hoped “normal and friendly” relations between the US and Vietnam are conducive to regional stability. A spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry said bans are a product of the Cold War and shouldn’t have existed.

China itself remains under a weapons embargo imposed by the US and European Union following 1989’s bloody military crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations centred on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square.

For Vietnam, lifting the arms embargo was a psychological boost for its leaders. The United States partially lifted the ban in 2014, but Vietnam has pushed for full access as it tries to deal with China’s land reclamation and military construction in nearby seas.

It was unclear whether striking the ban would quickly result in a boost in arms sales. Obama said that each deal would be reviewed case by case and evaluated based on the equipment’s potential use. But there would no longer be a ban based on “ideological division”, he said.

“There’s been modest progress on some of the areas that we’ve identified as a concern,” Obama said, adding that the US “will continue to speak out on behalf of human rights we believe are universal”. 

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang embraced the chance to enter a new era in US-Vietnamese relations. He praised the expansion in security and trade ties between “former enemies turned friends” and, standing next to Obama before reporters, called for more US investment.

Ahead of the visit, in what was seen as a goodwill gesture, Vietnam granted early release from prison to a prominent dissident Catholic priest.

Some US lawmakers and activists had urged the president to press the communist leadership for greater freedoms before lifting the arms sale embargo. Vietnam holds about 100 political prisoners and there have been more detentions this year. In March, seven bloggers and activists were sentenced for “abusing democratic freedoms” and “spreading anti-state propaganda”. Hanoi says that only lawbreakers are punished.

“In one fell swoop, President Obama has jettisoned what remained of US leverage to improve human rights in Vietnam — and [has] basically gotten nothing for it,” Phil Robertson, with Human Rights Watch, said.

Obama’s arrival in Hanoi late Sunday made him the third sitting president to visit the country since the end of the war. The trip comes four decades after the fall of Saigon, now called Ho Chi Minh City, and two decades after President Bill Clinton restored relations with the nation.

Obama also made the case for stronger commercial and economic ties, including approval of the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that is stalled in Congress and facing strong opposition from the 2016 presidential candidates. The deal, which includes Vietnam, would tear down trade barriers and encourage investment between the countries that signed it.

Critics worry it would cost jobs by exposing American workers to low-wage competition from countries such as Vietnam.

Obama and Quang earlier attended a signing ceremony touting a series of new commercial deals between US and Vietnamese companies valued at more than $16 billion. The deals included US engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney’s plans to sell 135 advanced engines to Vietnamese air carrier Vietjet, and Boeing’s plans to sell 100 aircraft to the airline.

Obama’s agenda also included separate meetings with Vietnam’s prime minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, and with the Communist Party general secretary, Nguyen Phu Trong. At a luncheon for officials, the president offered thanks for all who came before to “help our nations reconcile”. He singled out US Secretary of State John Kerry, who served in the Vietnam War, for special mention. He said veterans on both sides had showed “hearts can change and peace is possible”. 

Later Monday, Obama had dinner with CNN personality Anthony Bourdain, whose “Parts Unknown” food travelogue is one of the network’s most popular nonfiction series. Bourdain was to discuss the purpose of Obama’s trip to Asia and his interest in the people, food and culture of Vietnam.

A huge crowd gathered outside the restaurant and cheered when Obama came out.

VIENNA — Austria’s Norbert Hofer narrowly failed Monday to become the EU’s first far-right president after his ecologist rival scraped to victory in a knife-edge election that was a rude wake-up call for the continent’s established parties.

Alexander Van der Bellen won 50.3 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s second-round, marginally ahead of 49.7 per cent for Hofer, presented as the friendly and moderate face of the anti-immigration, populist Freedom Party (FPOe).

“Of course I am sad,” Hofer said on Facebook as he conceded defeat, but added: “Please don’t be disheartened. The effort in this election campaign is not wasted, but is an investment for the future.” 

Preliminary results late Sunday had put Hofer barely four points ahead in the runoff for the largely ceremonial but bitterly fought-over post of Austrian head of state. 

But his paper-thin margin was erased after a record 700,000 postal ballots were counted during Monday, dramatically putting Van der Bellen ahead by just over 31,000 votes in the final tally.

Turnout was at almost 73 per cent, high for European elections.

Most observers had thought that Van der Bellen, 72, an independent who stood with Green Party backing, would fail to beat his polished younger rival after lagging 14 points behind him in the first round on April 24.

“But in the last 14 days, there has been such a momentum among voters... [across] all sections of society,” the professorial Van der Bellen said late Sunday. 

Gun enthusiast Hofer, 45, had tapped into unease about the record number of asylum-seekers at the height of Europe’s migrant crisis, with his typical supporters made up of lesser-educated working-class men and in rural areas.

But the self-proclaimed “gladiator” has also toned down the FPOe’s message to win voters across the spectrum disillusioned with the centrist parties in the current government that have dominated national politics since 1945.

His strategy mirrored the success of other fringe political figures across Europe, most recently in elections in Cyprus on Sunday, as well as further afield as seen with the success of Donald Trump in the United States.

French ‘relief’ 

In France, where the National Front’s Marine Le Pen will run for president next year, Prime Minister Manuel Valls voiced his “relief to see the Austrians reject populism and extremism... Everyone in Europe should learn from this”.

Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said he was “very happy, in particular with regard to our bilateral relations”. Rome and Vienna have been at odds over Europe’s migrant crisis in recent weeks.

Reinhard Buetikofer and Monica Frassoni, co-chairs of the European Green Party, said the message was that “Europe’s values and our shared republican and democratic goals can be defended against insurgent right-wing populism.” 

But fringe politicians still drew solace from the result.

Frauke Petry, head of Alternative for Germany, who was in Vienna Sunday for what had been expected to be a victory party for the FPOe, congratulated Hofer for the “outstanding result”.

Polarised nation 

With almost half of the votes cast, or 2.2 million people, going to Hofer, Van der Bellen now has to unite a polarised nation after a bruising election campaign.

“Norbert Hofer managed to motivate 50 per cent of the Austrian population against the whole system,” FPOe chief strategist Herbert Kickl said.

“This means that Van der Bellen has a massive responsibility in his treatment of this 50 per cent.” 

An even bigger challenge awaits the coalition government of the Social Democrats (SPOe) and the centre-right People’s Party (OeVP), which have dominated national politics since 1945.

The two parties suffered a historic debacle in the first round of voting for the presidential election on April 24, knocked out with 11 per cent each and prompting chancellor Werner Faymann to quit.

His successor, Christian Kern of the SPOe, now has two years to win back voters from the arms of the FPOe in time for the next general election, due in 2018.

Despite narrowly losing out on the presidency, FPOe leader Heinz-Christian Strache, 46, will have been boosted by the close contest in his hopes to become chancellor in two years.

His party is leading in opinion polls with more than 30 per cent of voter intentions. The SPOe and the OeVP look on course to fall short of a majority between them.