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PARIS A senior policymaker in the Bush administration, Richard Haass, shrugged off widespread criticism and hostility toward America on Thursday as a misunderstanding of Washington's "benign" foreign policy. And while he agreed that France was being "punished" for opposing President George W. Bush on Iraq, he said the French had an opportunity to get back into America's good books by going along with a U.S. resolution in the UN Security Council to lift Iraq sanctions. Haass, director of policy planning at the State Department, told reporters in Paris, where he was holding talks with French officials: "Allow me a bit...

COLIN POWELL will today attempt to improve the “poisoned” relationship between Washington and Berlin. The omens are not good. The German press is already discounting the Secretary of State as a political force. “Even before the attacks in Riyadh, his trip was ill-starred,” Der Spiegel magazine said. “It is exposing his impotence, the loss of respect from allies, the crumbling of authority at home, the failure of his diplomacy, fractured doctrine, inner emigration — the man who is supposed to mend the broken porcelain of the trans-Atlantic relationship is himself damaged goods.” Diplomats say that General Powell will use his...

MOSCOW - Reaching out to improve relations with the United States, Russia's lower house of parliament ratified a landmark nuclear arms control treaty Wednesday that slashes the nuclear arsenals of both countries by two-thirds. The Duma voted 294-134 in favor of the so-called Moscow Treaty after a closed-door debate. President Vladimir Putin called the vote a "convincing ratification," Russian news agencies reported. Putin had urged lawmakers to ratify the treaty, calling it an "important document in the sphere of strategic stability." The U.S. Senate approved the accord in March, but the Duma delayed the vote amid Russian opposition to the...

US and Iran hold secret talks after 23 years of hostility By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 13 May 2003 The United States and Iran have held secret talks that could have an important bearing on the interlocking problems of Afghanistan, the future government of Iraq and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Though Bush administration officials denied yesterday the dialogue could lead to a normalisation of relations, senior representatives of the two countries have had three rounds of talks this year. The next session is due next week in Geneva – technically under the auspices of the United Nations, but in practice they...

Schroeder builds bridges to U.S. after Iraq row BERLIN, May 9 (Reuters) - Chancellor Gerhard Schroedersaid on Friday that Germany and the United States were more united than divided as he tried to mend ties soured by his vocal opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. "Germany and the United States are bound by a vital friendship. This friendship is founded on a solid basis of common experience and common values," Schroeder said according to the text of a speech he began giving to mark the 100th anniversary of the American Chamber of Commerce in Germany. He said a debate...

Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has said the Islamic Republic wants to improve relations with the United States, the official IRNA news agency said on Thursday. "Generally, Iran wants to expand its relations with all countries, even with America," IRNA quoted Kharrazi as saying during a one-day visit to Luxembourg on Wednesday. Iran's hardline judiciary last year declared illegal any calls for restoring relations with the United States. In Luxembourg, Kharrazi was expected to meet Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, President of Parliament Jean Spautz and Foreign Minister Lydie Polfer and discuss bilateral ties and regional and international developments. The Iranian...

BRITISH Prime Minister Tony Blair tried to treat his 50th birthday as just another day, but he could not contain a huge smile over a surprise gift from President Jacques Chirac yesterday. The French leader sent half a case of fine wine, worth €1,500, as a birthday present and peace offering. Mr Chirac, whose opposition to the Iraq war enraged Mr Blair, gave him six bottles of Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1989 and a crystal carafe, describing the present as a sign of his "personal esteem and loyal friendship".

TEHRAN, May 3 (AFP) - Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has offered his country's help to establish a democratic regime in neighboring Iraq, the official IRNA news reported Saturday. During telephone talks with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, the Iranian president said: "Iran is ready to help create a democractic government in Iraq. "Democracy can not be imposed, it should be attained through participation of all religious and ethnic groups." Khatami repeated Iran's opposition to the war against Iraq but allowed that the toppling of Saddam Hussein was "beneficial" for the region. A continuation of the US-British military presence in...

Neighbors Greece and Turkey: Let's Live in Peace Sat May 3, 6:03 PM ET By Karolos Grohmann KAS, Turkey (Reuters) - The Greek and Turkish foreign ministers held highly symbolic talks in Turkey's coastal town of Kas on Saturday, winning applause from residents and agreeing peace was vital on their common border and in Cyprus. Greece's George Papandreou and Turkey's Abdullah Gul said they had decided both states should simultaneously present the United Nations (news - web sites) with accords they had ratified banning land mines on the border between the two historic and often bitter rivals. It was designed...

TORONTO (AP)--Canada offered police, legal experts, engineers and transport planes Tuesday to help in the reconstruction of Iraq, signaling the end of a rift with the United States over the war. Prime Minister Jean Chretien said three C-130 Hercules aircraft in the Gulf region would expand their role and that Canada could send ``police, corrections and legal officers'' as well as units of Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team. He said the offer responds to U.S. requests for assistance, and that further contributions could be made. ``There are engineers that will be available to help restore water and electricity,'' Chretien said...

WASHINGTON, April 28 (UPI) -- The Bush administration has proposed forming a high-level contact group with the Europeans to discuss sensitive policy issues in advance to avoid the kind of transatlantic clash that split the alliance over Iraq, United Press International has learned. The proposal, floated so far with German and British diplomats, is part of a process of kiss-and-make up with Europe that will see U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell visit German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on a trip to Berlin next month. The Bush administration is also hopeful that the security and peacekeeping mission in Iraq can be...

April 28 — BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea offered to scrap its nuclear program during talks with the United States in Beijing last week if Washington dropped its hostile attitude, Western diplomats briefed by a Chinese official said on Monday. North Korea also offered to suspend ballistic missile tests and stop missile exports, said the diplomats who asked not to be identified. Pyongyang also offered to let nuclear inspectors into the country, they quoted the official as saying. The briefing by China's top North Korea expert was a rare move by China, which hosted the April 23-25 talks in the...

BEIJING (Reuters) - North Korea offered to scrap its nuclear program during talks with the United States in Beijing last week if Washington dropped its hostile attitude, Western diplomats briefed by a Chinese official said on Monday. North Korea also offered to suspend ballistic missile tests and stop missile exports, said the diplomats who asked not to be identified. Pyongyang also offered to let nuclear inspectors into the country, they quoted the official as saying. The briefing by China's top North Korea expert was a rare move by China, which hosted the April 23-25 talks in the hope of ending...

Pak reviving militant camps in PoK Despite Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee extending an "olive branch" to Pakistan, reports indicate that Islamabad was reactivating militant camps in its illegaly occupied Kashmir and other areas. Militants arrested recently and information collected from border outposts indicate that all five camps of Lashker-e-Taiba in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir have been revived and several hundred cadres, 80 per cent of them foreign mercenaries, were being trained in them, official sources said here. These militants who were arrested after Vajpayee's two-day visit to the Kashmir valley, have reportedly told their interrogators that several camps in Northern...

An Iraqi source confirmed to Al Bawaba press reports about the arrest of the former head of Iraqi intelligence, Farouq Hijazi, whom Washington accuses of being behind an attempt to assassinate the former US president, George Bush Sr. while on a Kuwaiti visit in 1993. Meanwhile, another source confirmed Syrian assistance with the arrest. The spokesman of the Iraqi National Congress, the largest Iraqi opposition group, told Al Bawaba, “US forces arrested the former Iraqi intelligence chief, Farouq Hijazi, on Thursday night near the Syrian border.” “Farouq Abdullah Yahya al-Hijazi, previously dubbed as Muwaffaq Abdullah al-Yahya (Abu Harb), was born...

France Tries to Patch Up Ties with U.S. French President Jacques Chirac no longer has the ear of U.S. President George Bush. Despite recent French overtures, the United States appears unwilling to forgive Paris for its refusal to back the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Some fear the rift could have long-term repercussions for transatlantic relations. U.S. President George Bush is known for making politics personal. With his emphasis on loyalty, crossing the president has become a risky endeavor in Washington and, as the Iraq crisis has shown, even beyond America’s shores. With the support of the leaders of Germany and...

Signs of relaxation between Paris and WashingtonIn an accomodation granted to the BBC, the American Secretary of State Colin Powell was optimistic as for the evolution of the Franco-American relations, "The United States and France have been married for 225 years and we have been in a dubious marriage for these 225 years. But the fact is that we do many things in a spirit of co-operation ", he declared. These remarks were greeted by the French Minister Mrs. Michele Alliot-Marie with deference. In addition, Washington welcomed the French initiative to invite China with Evian, in June, for a meeting...

KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) - Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims flocked to Iraq's holiest city of Karbala in a pilgrimage banned under Saddam Hussein as the United States rebuffed a diplomatic olive branch from France. But the second and last day of the Shiite ceremony, outlawed for nearly quarter of a century under Saddam, failed to ignite large anti-US demonstrations despite appeals by clerics for mass shows of anti-Americanism. Iraq's US civil administrator, retired general Jay Garner, acknowledged Washington was facing "some staged demonstrations" against its rule but insisted most Iraqis "are glad we are here." Garner continued a tour...

BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) - European countries that opposed the U.S.-led war on Iraq are scrambling to ingratiate themselves with the victorious United States, but France faces some punishment for its leadership of the anti-war axis. In the last 10 days, France, Germany and Turkey have all acted to try to repair strained relations with Washington, welcoming the fall of Saddam Hussein and pledging to cooperate on a range of issues from post-war Iraq to Afghanistan and NATO. The French have shifted most spectacularly, reversing their position to propose an immediate suspension of U.N. sanctions on Iraq and dropping opposition to...

France seeks to patch up relations with US on Iraq By Evelyn Leopold UNITED NATIONS, April 23 (Reuters) - Extending an olive branch to the United States, France called for an "immediate" suspension of U.N. sanctions against Iraq but gave few details on how this could be accomplished quickly. The Bush administration reacted coolly to the proposal by French Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, whose country led the opposition to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, repeating it wanted the embargoes ended, not just suspended. But aside from goodwill, the implications of the French proposal were not immediately clear, with diplomats...