US navy destroyer arrives in Cyprus

The United States navy’s destroyer the USS Jason Dunham arrived at the port of Limassol on Monday, with the US embassy in Nicosia saying it had arrived for the purpose of “crew rest and resupply”. “Named after Medal of Honour recipient Jason L Dunham, this marks her first ever visit to Cyprus,” the US embassy said, before adding that the country is “always grateful for Cyprus’ hospitality and partnership”. Jason Dunham was posthumously awarded the US’ Medal of Honour after using his helmet and body to cover a live grenade and save nearby marines’ lives when his unit was attacked during a patrol in the Iraqi city of Husaybah, near the Syrian border, in 2004. He died eight days after the attack. The arrival of the USS Jason Dunham comes two days after a US air force Boeing C-40 clipper jet using callsign “Spar19” landed at Larnaca airport from Cairo.

The jet and callsign in question are typically used for the transportation of high-level members of the US administration – usually members of congress or the cabinet – though no announcement was made by either the Cypriot or US government regarding its arrival. The Cyprus Mail reached out to both the US and Cypriot governments for information regarding who was on the flight. It is believed that the aircraft has since departed. On Sunday evening, Egyptian President Abdell Fattah El-Sisi announced he had met the US’ central intelligence agency (CIA) chief John Ratcliffe, possibly providing some indication as to who was aboard the flight. CIA chief met Egyptian President Sisi in Cairo at weekend After that meeting, Sisi’s spokesman Mohamed El-Shennawy said that the meeting had focused on “avenues to bolster the strategic relations” between Egypt and the US. He said that Sisi had stressed Egypt’s “full support for efforts aimed…