Free Republic

CAIRO - Cairo is ready to re-establish diplomatic ties with Tehran after a break of more than 30 years, Egypt's foreign minister said on Monday, signaling a shift in Iran policy since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak. "The Egyptian and Iranian people deserve to have mutual relations reflecting their history and civilization," said Foreign Minister Nabil Elaraby after meeting Iranian official Mugtabi Amani. "Egypt is open to all countries and the aim is to achieve common interests," Elaraby said, adding that Cairo welcomed "opening a new page with Iran." It was the first publicly announced meeting between officials from...

US President Barack Obama does not preclude the United States supplying weapons to Libyan rebels attempting to overthrow the Gaddafi regime, but NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says that is not part of UN Resolution 1973. NATO has taken over the operational military leadership of an international coalition enforcing UN Resolution 1973 from the United States, and apart from enforcing a no-fly zone is also currently enforcing a general weapons embargo on Libya. Obama’s statement came during an interview with NBC following the president’s speech to the nation on Libya. “I am not ruling it out, but I am...

President Barack Obama, addressing the American people directly for the first time since military operations began in Libya, offered no new details about how the U.S. commitment there will end, but pledged that Libya won’t be another Iraq. “Regime change there took eight years, thousands of American and Iraqi lives and nearly a trillion dollars. That is not something we can afford to repeat in Libya,” Obama said. Seeking to sway a country divided and confused by the unexpected air and naval mission against Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi, Obama laid out a sweeping rationale for the action, arguing that it...

The U.S. military dramatically stepped up its assault on Libyan government ground forces this weekend, launching its first attacks with AC-130 flying gunships and A-10 attack aircraft, which are designed to strike enemy ground troops and supply convoys, according to senior U.S. military officials. Their use, during several days of heavy fighting in which the momentum seemed to swing in favor of the rebels, demonstrated how allied military forces have been drawn deeper into the chaotic fight in Libya. A mission that initially seemed to revolve around establishing a no-fly zone has become focused on halting advances by ground forces...