Free Republic

Down in Colombia, politics is a very tense sport, and the leftist president is looking for distractions. So he found one in the Gaza conflict, and a big target in Israel. This is the story:Colombia President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday said he intends to end diplomatic relations with Israel over its handling of its war against Hamas in Gaza.Petro said he’s ending relations with Israel as of Thursday due to ‘the girls, the boys, the babies who have died dismembered by the bombs,’ The Hill reported.Petro announced his intention during Colombia’s annual May Day celebration at the central Plaza de...

Colombia broke diplomatic ties with Israel, becoming the second Latin American country to do so since the beginning of the war in Gaza. Bolivia broke diplomatic ties with Israel last fall over the war, while Cuba and Venezuela haven't recognized the country since 1973 and 2009, respectively. Colombia, having already previously withdrawn its ambassador from the country shortly after the beginning of the war, took things a step further by cutting all ties with Israel, President Gustavo Petro announced on Wednesday. "Here in front of you, the government of change, of the president of the republic announces that tomorrow we...

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Mexico's government severed diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police broke into the Mexican Embassy to arrest a former Ecuadorian vice president, an extraordinary use of force that shocked and mystified regional leaders and diplomats. Ecuadorian police late Friday broke through the external doors of the embassy in the capital, Quito, to arrest Jorge Glas, who had been residing there since December. Glas sought political asylum at the embassy after being indicted on corruption charges. The raid prompted Mexico's President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to announce the breaking off of diplomatic relations with Ecuador on Friday evening,...

As the US and world powers approach a November 24 deadline on nuclear talks with Iran, governmental sources in the Islamic regime have reported that they are conducting secret talks with America about renewing diplomatic ties for the first time in 35 years. Iranian government advisers spoke to the British Times, and said secret talks with American officials have centered around the possibility of opening a US trade office in the Iranian capital of Tehran if a nuclear deal is reached. Those talks are to continue this week, and according to the officials will take place in the Azerbaijani capital...

The chief editor of a Sudanese newspaper was attacked and beaten by an angry mob late Saturday just days after a televised appearance in which he called for “normalized ties” with Israel. AFP is reporting that Osman Mirghani, editor in chief of Sudan’s Al-Tayar daily newspaper, was taken to Al-Zaytouna Hospital after the mob stormed the paper’s offices Saturday night. …

Upset at President Barack Obama's policies on Iran and Syria, members of Saudi Arabia's ruling family are threatening a rift with the United States that could take the alliance between Washington and the kingdom to its lowest point in years. Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief is vowing that the kingdom will make a 'major shift' in relations with the United States to protest perceived American inaction over Syria's civil war as well as recent U.S. overtures to Iran, a source close to Saudi policy said on Tuesday. Prince Bandar bin Sultan told European diplomats that the United States had failed to...

British Foreign Secretary William Hague signalled on Wednesday that Britain was open to improved relations with Iran on a “step-by-step” basis, following talks with his counterpart in Tehran, reported the Daily Telegraph. … A Foreign Office statement quoted by the Daily Telegraph said Britain and Iran could explore improved ties in the face of the need for “urgent progress” to resolve the West’s concerns about Iran’s nuclear program. …

LONDON - Saudi Arabia has threatened to suspend diplomatic links with Britain unless it blocks a probe into an alleged multi-million pound slush fund for some members of its royal family, the Sunday Times reported. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO), which investigates and prosecutes complex fraud cases, has been examining claims that British defence company BAE Systems established a 60 million pound fund (89 million euros, 114 million dollars). This allegedly provided perks such as luxury cars to ensure that the Saudis kept buying from BAE, the paper said. The Saudi ambassador to London, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf, visited Prime...

Iran is considering cutting back or even severing diplomatic ties with Argentina after an Argentine judge asked Interpol to detain four Iranians over a deadly 1994 bombing, a government source said on Tuesday, according to Reuters. The four Iranians, who include a former intelligence minister, are wanted by Argentine authorities in connection with a bomb attack on a Jewish community center in Argentina which killed 85 people. Iran has long denied any involvement in the attack and insists that no evidence has been presented to connect the four men to the crime. It withdrew its ambassador in protest after being...

NIAMEY: The Muslim-dominated African country of Niger announced on Sunday it was cutting diplomatic relations with Israel, in an official statement broadcast on the radio. "At this dramatic and particularly grave moment in which the martyrs of Palestine are living, the government has ceased to have diplomatic relations with the state of Israel," it said. Niger blamed the move on the "intransigence" of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the 18-month conflict with the Palestinians. "He has clearly shown his desire to risk all the gains made under the peace process ... and poses the gravest threat to peace and...