US set to ease travel restrictions on African leader accused of corruption

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration is set to give an African leader accused of pilfering his impoverished country’s resources to feed a lifestyle of luxury cars, mansions and superyachts a temporary pass on U.S. corruption sanctions to travel to a high-level U.N. gathering in New York and visit other American cities.

Two U.S. officials familiar with the matter said the State Department is processing a one-month sanctions waiver for the vice president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro “Teddy” Nguema Obiang, following recommendations that it is in the U.S. national interest to blunt growing Chinese influence in the West African country and boost American oil and gas business interests there. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations.

The waiver would allow Obiang — notorious among world leaders accused of corruption for a lavish lifestyle that has attracted the attention of prosecutors in several countries — to travel to cities outside of New York. That includes Miami and Los Angeles, where he has owned property and luxury vehicles, some of which he has had to forfeit in legal proceedings.

While moving to ease restrictions for a much-prosecuted African leader, the Trump administration has cracked down on visas for large numbers of foreigners, including revoking or denying them to people it deems undesirable who are already in the United States or seeking to travel here. That includes denying visas to Palestinian Authority leaders to come to the U.N. meeting this month and considering restrictions on delegations from Iran, Brazil and elsewhere.