MUNICH — The appeals to Israel by numerous European diplomats attending the Munich security conference last weekend have led to growing concern that Israeli plans to attack Iran are imminent. The very number of warnings to Israel, and the emphasis with which diplomats...
Europe Divided Over Palestinian State
BERLIN — Divisions that have surfaced within the European Union over recognition of the Palestinian Authority as an independent and sovereign state are unlikely to be resolved ahead of a crucial vote in the United Nations next week. A two-state settlement is part of...
Germany to Deliver Weapons to Saudi Arabia
BERLIN — The decision by the German government to deliver 200 state-of-the-art armored tanks to Saudi Arabia, despite the Wahhabi monarchy’s human rights record and its recent violent intervention in Bahrain to repress the popular rebellion against the local ruling...
German Govt ‘Crying Wolf’ on Terrorist Attacks
BERLIN, Dec 2 (IPS) - Government officials in Germany are being accused of manipulating threats of terrorism to induce public hysteria, even while warning against such reactions. The self-contradictory approach has prompted German citizens to call the terror warnings...
Settlement Policy Wrong, Say European Jews
PARIS - Prominent Jewish intellectuals living in Europe have begun denouncing the Israeli policy of allowing settlements to come up on Palestinian territories as "morally and politically wrong." In a collective declaration, presented in the Belgian capital Brussels on...
French Wary of a Lebanese Sandwich
PARIS - Military experts are warning of dangers for the new peacekeeping force in the south of Lebanon, sandwiched as it will be between Israeli forces on one side and Hezbollah on the other. "We are going there only to take blows," a French general who...
Diplomatic Front Heats Up in Ivory Coast
PARIS - Beneath the apparent calm after the last round of clashes, the diplomatic battle in Cote d'Ivoire is getting hotter. This time the clash is building up not between government and rebel leaders but between the government of President Laurent Gbagbo and the...
France Stands Up to the US
PARIS - The differences between France and Iraq entered a new phase at the summit that began at the Egyptian resort Sharm el-Sheikh Monday. Differences are emerging starkly despite conciliatory statements from both sides. The meeting is bringing together members of...
France Gets US Nuclear Treatment
PARIS - Over several days now France has been home to a new consignment of 140 kg of plutonium, enough to build 20 atom bombs. The plutonium from the dismantling of U.S. nuclear weapons has been sent to France for treatment. The freight was kept at the Atlantic port...
French Headscarves Still Fueling Hostage Crisis
PARIS - The two French journalists kidnapped in Iraq more than three weeks back are still in captivity despite efforts by French and Iraqi leaders to secure their freedom. Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot were kidnapped Aug. 20 by the so-called Islamic Army in...