Mike Pompeo to visit London in 'historic week' amid heightening US-UK tensions

With Britain's historic Brexit deal just a few days away, US Secretary Mike Pompeo will visit London on January 29. Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said, they will discuss 'future trade relationship' along with the benefits for British and American economy. Since the referendum, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been touting the prospects of a big new trade deal with the US after being identified as the third country since January 31. 

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According to international reports, Pompeo's meeting with Raab and Johnson threatens to become a damage limitation exercise for the 'special relationship' between close allies. While Pompeo has been convincing British PM to exclude Chinese telecom giant Huawei from UK's 5G network, Johnson had been pushing Washington to send back Anne Sacoolas, the wife of an American diplomat who is currently using the cover of diplomatic immunity to avoid prosecution over the death of 19-year-old Harry Dunn in a road accident in England in August, last year. 

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Layers of UK-US tension

However, in an explicit rejection to US President Donald Trump's concerns of national security over Huawei, Johnson has allowed limited role to the Chinese firm in country's 'technological progress'. Just last week, the US had also rejected Sacoolas's extradition to Britain making Raab 'feel denial of justice'. The British Foreign Secretary claimed the UK 'would have acted differently' if the situation was reversed.

What also adds to the layers of tensions between the UK and US is disagreements about Iran and an American prosecutor's complaint that Prince Andrew was delaying an FBI investigation into the late sex offender, Jeffrey Epstein. Ian Bond of London's Centre for European Reform told an international agency that British Pm should now be hoping that 'there are no precipitous statements from the US saying that's it, this love affair is at an end.'

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