BoJo grilled over past gaffes

LONDON: Britain's new foreign minister Boris Johnson resorted to Latin on Tuesday as he attempted to bluster his way past questions from reporters about his history of undiplomatic language.
Appearing in London with his US counterpart John Kerry to reaffirm the value of the trans-Atlantic "special relationship" in the wake of the Brexit vote, Johnson faced tough questioning.
Why had he dismissed US President Barack Obama's concerns about Britain's EU referendum as the prejudices of a "half-Kenyan" anti-imperialist?
Had he lied about Obama removing a Winston Churchill bust from the White House or misled British voters about the consequences of their vote to leave the EU?
Would he apologise for comparing the appearance of Democratic White House contender Hillary Clinton to that of "a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital"?
Well, no. These phrases and others that have resurfaced since he was promoted last week were, he said, obiter dicta – inconsequential remarks.
Now, along with his new friend "John" Kerry, Johnson has far more important matters to attend to – the wars in Syria and Yemen, negotiating Britain's EU exit and world trade.
He told reporters: "I'm afraid that there is such a rich thesaurus now of things that I have said that have been one way or another – through what alchemy I do not know – somehow been misconstrued that it would really take me too long to engage in a full-blown itinerary of apology to all concerned."
Johnson insisted that everyone he had met since becoming Britain's top diplomat understood that his past utterances should be seen in the proper context of his career as a columnist and political campaigner.
And he protested that the crises that Britain and the US are now confronting together are "far more important than any obiter dicta that you may disinter from 30 years of journalism". – AFP