MANILA, Philippines — A week after describing the military crackdown on Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority as a “genocide,” President Duterte yesterday issued a public apology to the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Duterte had told government officials in a speech on April 5 that European governments “can’t even solve” the problem in Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Duterte also said then that he was “willing to accept refugees” from Myanmar if Europe would take in others displaced there as well. “They keep on criticizing us, Aung (San Suu) Kyi and the others. Madam Chancellor, let me confess to you publicly, I was doing a – very sarcastic,” Duterte said yesterday as he apologized, his words trailing off.

Source: Philippine Star April 13, 2018 15:45 UTC