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In a stunning departure from 35 years of hostility with the West, Colonel Muammar Qaddafi told delegates at the opening of the Libyan People's National Congress in the seaside resort town of Sirte on Tuesday that his government had renounced terrorism and weapons of mass destruction and declared that "a new era has started" of openness and cooperation with the United States. In an address to the nation's top elected leaders as well as seven members of the United States House of Representatives, the Libyan leader gave the first detailed public account of the reasons behind his surprise announcement on...

Bush, Schroeder Put Bitter War Feud Behind Them By Steve Holland WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder put their bitter feud over the Iraq war behind them on Friday but Schroeder brought up a new problem: the dollar's weakness against the euro. "We've had differences in the past. But there's nothing wrong with friends having differences and we are both committed to put the differences behind us and move forward," Bush told reporters as he and Schroeder sat side-by-side in the Oval Office. Schroeder said he told Bush of German concerns about the weakness of the...

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian offered on Saturday to shake hands and make peace with Chinese leader Hu Jintao, in an apparent bid to reassure voters that bilateral ties would not worsen if he is re-elected next month. Chen, whose plan to hold Taiwan's first referendum has drawn threats of war from China, also said he aimed to post an envoy to Beijing if elected in the March 20 elections. "Ah Bian's biggest hope is one day, in the next four years, we can shake hands with President Hu Jintao and reconcile," Chen said during a live television...

JERUSALEM - Belgian and Israeli foreign ministers said Monday their governments have reconciled after Belgian war crimes charges against Israel's prime minister were dropped. Visiting Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel met Monday with his Israeli counterpart, Silvan Shalom, and said the sides "hope to renew and revive the relationship between the two countries." "We have turned the page of past differences," Michel told reporters. The friction stemmed from a 1993 Belgian law that gave the nation's courts the power to prosecute war crimes unrelated to Belgium. One case was filed against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in connection with Israel's...

<p>BERLIN, Germany -- Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder says Germany, which opposed the war in Iraq, is committed to helping rebuild the war-torn country.</p> <p>Germany is ready "to make a contribution" to the reconstruction of Iraq and "strongly help" move along the democratization process, Schroeder told reporters after a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.</p>

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United States and France sought on Friday to put behind them last year's meltdown over Iraq as the main antagonists in the dispute returned to the United Nations to discuss postwar cooperation. Secretary of State Colin Powell and French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin emphasized their shared concern to rebuild Iraq a year after the two diplomats clashed at the world body over the U.S. case for war. "We had a major disagreement last year, but you know, disagreements come and disagreements go," Powell told reporters before his 90-minute lunch meeting with Villepin. "This year...

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North and South Korea agreed Friday to hold high-level military talks to ease tensions between the nations, divided by the world's most heavily fortified border and embroiled in a standoff over the North's nuclear weapons development. The agreement came at the end of four days of Cabinet-level meetings. "South and North agreed to hold a military official meeting soon to ease military tension on the Korean peninsula," the two countries said in a joint statement. It gave no details of the planned talks. The Koreas held talks between their defense ministers in September 2000 but...

Chancellor was a 'prisoner' of French president in 'catastrophic' opposition to war to topple Saddam Germany is seeking to distance itself from France's tight embrace and realign itself more closely to Britain and America, senior German officials signalled yesterday. They said the row with Washington over Iraq had been "catastrophic" for Berlin and Chancellor Gerhard Schröderhad become "a prisoner" of President Jacques Chirac's campaign to oppose the war to topple Saddam Hussein last year. "We were more dependent on the French in that situation. But this will not be a permanent situation," said one authoritative source. Another official explained: "We...

<p>Schroeder Will Meet Bush Next Month, German Government Says Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and U.S. President George W. Bush will meet in Washington next month, his spokesman said, their second meeting since the U.S.-led war in Iraq, which Schroeder opposed.</p>

Mr Denktash had been under pressure to change his mind Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash said on Monday he was ready to resume UN-backed talks on re-unifying Cyprus. But he said he did not believe the issue could be resolved by 1 May, because "there is so much to do". His comments came as Turkey's foreign minister challenged the Greek side to match its recent commitment to peace. Turkey is keen for a deal before Cyprus joins the EU in May, as this would increase its own chances of beginning talks on membership next year. We are waiting to...

<p>U.S. to Open Iraq Contracts to Germany, Handelsblatt Reports Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. will allow German participation in $5 billion worth of contracts to rebuild Iraq, the Handelsblatt business newspaper reported, citing unidentified U.S. government officials.</p> <p>German companies will be permitted to bid for orders to rebuild Iraq's electricity network, water supply and transport systems, the paper said in an advance release of a story in tomorrow's edition. Along with those of other countries that didn't join the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq, German companies were excluded from an initial batch of contracts worth 18.6 billion euros ($23.6 billion), Handelsblatt said.</p>

A senior Iranian official has called on the United States to take more concrete steps towards Iran following its temporary suspension of some sanctions. President George W. Bush last month eased some U.S. sanctions on Iran for 90 days to speed up humanitarian assistance to victims of Iran's December 26 Bam earthquake, which killed more than 40,000 people. That move, combined with the first direct U.S. aid to Iran since the two countries severed relations 24 years ago, signalled a faint thaw in their frosty relationship. Mohammad Hossein Adeli, deputy foreign minister for economic affairs, suggested Bush could follow up...

<p>French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said yesterday that "certain radical neoconservative ideas" are driving a wedge between Europe and the United States at a time when the trans-Atlantic alliance must be strengthened in the face of common threats.</p> <p>In remarks at the end of a two-day fence-mending visit to Washington, Mrs. Alliot-Marie conceded that 2003 was a difficult time for Franco-American relations, but said Paris had been unfairly "stigmatized" as a "strategic adversary of the United States."</p>

ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turkey, a predominantly Muslim NATO (news - web sites) ally, is aggressively pushing for closer ties with Syria, Iran and Saudi Arabia — a diplomatic drive that highlights Turkey's changing role as a bridge between the region and the United States. Turkey's government this month held high level talks with both Syria and Iran, countries that the United States has accused of terrorism. And on Saturday, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan headed to Saudi Arabia for a regional economic forum, ahead of talks with President Bush (news - web sites) in Washington later this month. The diplomatic...

PARIS, Jan. 15 -- French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who arrived in Washington Thursday on a mission to mend France's tattered military relations with the United States, said before her departure that the two countries have wide-ranging cooperation and should not "let the trees hide the forest." "It's true that we had a disagreement with the United States over Iraq," she said in written answers to questions submitted by The Washington Post. Referring to the invasion, she said: "We sincerely thought that it was not the best way. But that represents such a tiny part of our overall relationship. It...

Syrian President Bashar Assad is speaking publicly for the first time about normalization with Israel. He has told the terror organizations operating out of Damascus to lower their profile and ordered Syrian government spokesmen to moderate their rhetoric, Military Intelligence commander Maj. Gen. Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee yesterday. President Moshe Katsav meanwhile renewed his call for Assad to resume peace negotiations with Israel, whether in secret or in public and without prior conditions. In an interview with the Qatar-based Al Jazeera, Katsav said the invitation was aimed at testing Syria's "true intentions toward...

Mexico (AP) - President Bush, seeking to mend relations with America's northern neighbor, said Tuesday that Canada will be eligible for a second round of U.S.-financed reconstruction contracts in Iraq. In a breakfast meeting with new Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin, Bush said he had told Martin of the shift in policy. Martin "understands the stakes" in rebuilding a free and peaceful Iraq, Bush said. He offered no details of what the contracts would be worth. Martin is eager to patch up the cross-border relationship after his predecessor, Jean Chretien, abstained from the Iraq war, angering Bush.

MONTERREY, Mexico – President Bush and Mexican President Vicente Fox, their relationship strained by tensions over immigration and Iraq, met privately for talks on a range of issues Monday as a prelude to an international summit meeting of 34 Western Hemisphere nations. The Bush White House saw the face-to-face meeting not only as a chance to mend ties between the two countries, but also to earn political capital for a president who wants a second term. Bush arrived in this industrial city at midday at an airport where gun-toting troops in green fatigues and security officers roamed the grounds. He...

By ERLIN, Jan. 8 — The European Commission agreed Thursday to revive planning for a conference on anti-Semitism that it suspended two days ago after accusations from European and American Jewish figures that some of its recent decisions were anti-Semitic themselves. The announcement seemed to put an end to an unusually public display of animosity involving charges of anti-Semitism made by leaders of Jewish organizations and an angry reaction by the president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi. The dispute involving Mr. Prodi, a high-profile European generally seen as friendly to Jewish interests, had threatened relations between Jewish organizations and...

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi could open ties with Israel, an Israeli MP who has met Mr Gaddafi's son has said. "Gaddafi has made a strategic decision, and he is not a man of small steps," Labour legislator Ephraim Sneh said. "He will not stop half-way. He could go as far as relations with Israel, and beyond," Mr Sneh told Israel Radio. Libya - which announced dramatically last month it would give up banned weapons - has never recognised Israel and has called for its destruction. Mr Sneh confirmed on Wednesday that he and another Israeli legislator had met the Libyan...