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UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - In a surprise move, France on Tuesday backed an immediate suspension of U.N. sanctions against Iraq, meeting the United States half way in its drive to get the embargoes lifted. But France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, said the U.N. oil-for-food program, which collects Iraq's oil revenues, should be kept under U.N. control for the time being but adjusted to Iraq's current needs. "We should immediately suspend the sanctions," de la Sabliere said. "And about the oil-for-food program, we think there should be some adjustment to the program with a view to phasing out this...

Headline is the Chinese Communist official newspaper, the Global Times headline of the 21st announces: "China vigorously urges US - Korean talks The AP caption tones down the translation a bit: A Chinese man checks changes in his wallet near the front page of a Chinese paper with the headlines which read 'China urge North Korea (news - web sites) and US talks' and pictures showing the top leaders of the two countries at a newstand in Beijing, China, Monday, April 21, 2003. China's involvement in the coming tri-lateral talks is seen as critical to the success of the talks....

Syria said it wanted a "serious and constructive dialogue" with Washington and welcomed remarks by President Bush (news - web sites) in which he noted Damascus was heeding U.S. calls for cooperation. "We welcome the statement of President Bush and hope that this statement marks the beginning of a serious and constructive dialogue," Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara said on Monday. "We in Syria do not like argument ... we are for dialogue." On Sunday, Bush said Damascus was "getting the message" that it should deny sanctuary to fleeing members of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s government,...

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Saturday he deeply regretted "exaggerated remarks" critical of U.S. moves against Iraq (news - web sites) that soured his relations with President Bush (news - web sites). In a further attempt to repair U.S.-German relations strained by his outspoken criticism, Schroeder said he was confident the dispute over Iraq would not cause long-term problems between the two countries. "I deeply regret there were exaggerated comments -- also from cabinet members of my previous government," Schroeder told Der Spiegel magazine when asked if there were "grounds for self-criticism" for damage he caused...

Syria offers to expel 8 members of Saddam's inner circle in a message reaching Washington through 'Russian intelligence channels.'They are: Former Vice President Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri, Saddams' bureau chief Abd Hamoud, Baath Party Boss Aziz Salah, Special Security Service Chief Hanni Tefalah, Republican Guard Secretary Kemal Mustafa, Republican Guard Commander Seif A-Din Suleih, Iraqi Intelligence Commander Taher Jaloul and Special Republican Guard Commander, General Barzan Suleiman Tikriti.This is Damascus's first admission to harboring Saddam Hussein's top aides.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said on Saturday he deeply regretted "exaggerated remarks" critical of U.S. moves against Iraq that soured his relations with President Bush. In a further attempt to repair U.S.-German relations strained by his outspoken criticism, Schroeder said he was confident the dispute over Iraq would not cause long-term problems between the two countries. "I deeply regret there were exaggerated comments -- also from cabinet members of my previous government," Schroeder told Der Spiegel magazine when asked if there were "grounds for self-criticism" for damage he caused to U.S.-German relations. The declaration was the furthest Schroeder has gone...

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea on Saturday proposed high-level talks with South Korea, apparently offering an olive branch a day after it threw planned negotiations with the United States in doubt with confusing claims about reprocessing spent nuclear fuel for atomic weapons.

<p>The timing seemed to be far too precise to be coincidental. After diplomatic negotiations that required a conversation between the French foreign minister and Secretary of State Colin Powell and a visit from France's Washington ambassador to the U.S. deputy national security adviser, arrangements were finally made for President Bush to receive a phone call from French President Jacques Chirac on Tuesday. It was their first conversation in more than two months. The White House described the chat as "businesslike."</p>

No stranger to the use of weapons and diplomacy, former Secretary of State George P. Shultz told an MIT audience that the U.S. must rely on both in its relations with Iraq and North Korea."As the Secretary of State, I was custodian of the Great Seal of the United States, said Shultz, describing the eagle with an olive branch in the talons of one foot and arrows in the other. The eagle is looking at the olive branch, rather than the arrows, to show that the U.S. seeks peace. But it holds on to the arrows to show that the...

<p>As tempting as it might be, it would be churlish and wrong to reject France's new charm offensive toward the U.S. That it was put on display in rapid succession yesterday in Paris, Washington and at NATO headquarters in Brussels made it clear that a decision to make a new start was taken at the very top. If it lasts, Paris's new "pragmatic" approach holds out hope of progress on a whole range of security and international issues.</p>

Tony Blair and Jacques Chirac on Wednesday began mapping out a role for the United Nations in postwar Iraq, as Europe's leaders tried to put the divisions caused by the crisis behind them. Europe's leaders embarked on a frenetic round of bridge-mending at the EU summit in Athens, aimed at showing that they were prepared to play a full role in rebuilding Iraq. Foreign ministers from Britain, France, Germany, Spain and Russia were on Wednesday night attempting to agree a detailed plan of action with Kofi Annan, UN secretary-general. Mr. Chirac, the French president, acknowledged that U.S. and British forces...

<p>Top aides to President Bush plan to meet this week on the future of the Franco-American relationship amid sharp divisions in the administration over how to deal with France over its global campaign against the U.S.-led war in Iraq.</p> <p>Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice are to convene a meeting at the White House tomorrow in an effort to decide whether France should be punished for its antiwar stance, administration officials said.</p>

Iraq Rift Launches New Era in German Foreign Policy The country's foreign policy is emerging from under the shadow of the Cold War The strong fabric binding Berlin and Washington is fraying as German foreign policy undergoes a rapid transformation. DW-WORLD talks to analysts about where it's headed next. With the German and British flags displayed neatly behind him, Chancellor Gerhard Schröder on Thursday uttered the words that he hopes will heal the rift that Iraq has opened within Europe and across the Atlantic. "No matter what the difference of opinions were before, it goes without saying that healthy transatlantic...

The rift in Europe over Iraq reopened last night after America's friends began to assemble a stabilisation force to back coalition troops, but left out France. Asked about the plan at the European Union summit in Athens, Jacques Chirac, the French president, expressed surprise. "I do not know anything about this proposal," he said, adding that he did not think such a force would be "an essential part of the solution of the problem" in Iraq. He was speaking a day after he had a 20-minute conversation with President George W Bush to try to repair relations with Washington. Denmark's...

A clear-the-air telephone call between President Jacques Chirac and President George W Bush this week was secured only by repeated pleading from French diplomats, it emerged yesterday. The 20-minute call on Tuesday was the first time they had spoken for more than two months. When asked if the talk had been "positive", Ari Fleischer, Mr Bush's spokesman, said: "From the President's point of view, he would call it a business-like conversation." M Chirac's spokesman said he had been "pragmatic" about post-war Iraq. Before the call could be arranged, Jean-David Levitte, the French ambassador to Washington, had to lobby Karl Rove,...

PARIS, April 16 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac and US President George W. Bush -- bitterly divided over the war in Iraq -- have broken the ice with a brief telephone call but mending their strained ties will take time, analysts said Wednesday. "The differences have not changed, of course, but they did well to try to avoid a widening of the gap," said Simon Serfaty, director of the Europe program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Chirac wants to make sure that he is not left behind" when the postwar reconstruction of Iraq begins,...

ATHENS, April 16 (Reuters) - Step by step, anti-war leader France is moving closer to a compromise with the United States after its dramatic opposition to the U.S.-led assault on Iraq caused bilateral strains not seen since the 1960s. The latest move came on Wednesday when Paris, which long insisted only the United Nations could legitimately oversee change in Iraq, made known it could accept a gradual involvement of the world body while U.S. and British forces ran the country. This new flexibility first surfaced in French comments on Monday and President Jacques Chirac confirmed it on Tuesday when he...

THE setting is Alpine, lakeside and romantic, perfect for a happy reunion. But whether Presidents Bush and Chirac can manage anything more than rictus grins when they pose for photographs by Lake Geneva is anyone’s guess. The meeting in six weeks will be the first test of whether the transatlantic ructions over Iraq can become bygones, or if the bitterness will set the tone of Western diplomacy for the next decade. Washington will take critical steps today towards deciding whether, and how far, to take US retribution against France for what it regards as M Chirac’s obstructive role over Iraq....

<p>WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush had what the White House described as a "businesslike" phone conversation Tuesday with French President Jacques Chirac, the first time the two leaders have spoken since the beginning of war with Iraq, which France adamantly opposed.</p>

<p>French President Jacques Chirac telephoned President Bush yesterday for their first conversation since Feb. 7, when France angered the White House by trying to block military action against Iraq.</p> <p>The conciliatory overture was not warmly received by Mr. Bush, whose second U.N. Security Council resolution against Iraq was scuttled with Mr. Chirac's help.</p>