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Two men convicted of trying to kill the former US ambassador to Yemen were ordered released by an appeals court on Monday. According to their indictment, Hezam Ali Hassan, then 17, and Khaled Saleh, who was 18, followed the car of Ambassador Edmund Hull through the Sabeen area of San'a in 2003. Hassan, armed with a pistol and two hand grenades, climbed the wall of a store Hull had entered, the indictment said. Guards apprehended him before he could throw the grenades, it said.

BBC - Tuesday, 23 January, 2001, 12:37 GMT US diplomat safe after Yemen hijack The US ambassador to Yemen was among 91 passengers unharmed after a hijacker on an internal flight from the capital San'a to Taiz was overpowered. The hijacker, who said he was a supporter of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, was held by the flight crew after the plane was diverted to Djibouti. We persuaded him with difficulty to land in Djibouti to refuel...once there, I managed to let most of the passengers disembark Amer Anis, pilot Most of the passengers, including US envoy Barbara Bodine, disembarked safely...

Sri Lanka: ambassadors Italian and US wounded in a rebellious offensive COLOMBO - The ambassadors American and Italian in Sri Lanka were wounded Tuesday in an offensive with artillery carried out by rebels tamouls supposed in the east of the island, indicated to AFP the minister human rights Mahinda Samarasinghe. The ambassador Robert Blake and his Italian counterpart Prio Mariani were touched by glares of shells which struck the landing strip of the air base of Batticaloa at the time when the diplomats left a military helicopter, specified the Samarasinghe minister. Mr. Mariani was touched with the head, without...

The US ambassador to Norway gave a speech full of polite but very firm criticism of the Norwegian oil fund's blacklisting of American companies. US ambassador to Norway Benson K. Whitney spoke to the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI) on Friday, and made it clear that shared core values "like fairness, transparency, justice, dialogue, ethics" gave way to "disappointment and surprise" due to the failure of Norway to live up these ideals when investing its petroleum riches. "It's one thing for an individual Norwegian to get up one morning, read the paper, decide they don't like a company for...

An ultra-radical Islamic ideology mixing zealot-like devotion and holy war creed is drawing more scrutiny in anti-terrorist probes from the Middle East to Europe — with increasing indications that its base on the fringes of Islamic extremism could be widening. In existence since the 1960s, al-Takfir wa al-Hijra has offered intellectual inspiration to al-Qaida and other militant groups. But authorities now worry about followers becoming more aggressive with recruitment and retaliation against perceived foes of Islam, such as Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Officials in the Netherlands say the Dutch-Moroccan suspect — accused of killing Van Gogh on a busy...

U.S. ambassador a Canuck-at-heart TORONTO SUN Sunday, May 28, 2006 By MICHELE MANDEL OTTAWA -- After a year as U.S. ambassador to Canada, David Wilkins can now hum a few bars of O Canada and even tell you where maple syrup comes from. "That was a set-up," he protests, a sheepish note creeping into a South Carolina drawl as thick as the Canadian syrup. "It comes from a maple tree." Not only that, this transplanted southerner has adopted our national passion ("I was pulling very hard for the Senators to win"), loves Beavertails, has sampled poutine ("I like the...

WASHINGTON, Apr. 10, 2006 (AP) The Bush administration may severely restrict the movements of Venezuela's ambassador if pro-government activists in Venezuela engage in any more "thuggish" activities against U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield, a spokesman said Monday. There have been four incidents of harassment directed at Brownfield in recent weeks, including one last Friday when his convoy was pelted with eggs, tomatoes and other food. The convoy was also pummeled by motorcyclists during a miles-long chase through Caracas. "If we see an incident like this again, I think that there are going to be serious diplomatic consequences between our two countries....

WASHINGTON — The State Department accused Caracas city officials of complicity Friday in an attack on the car of U.S. Ambassador William Brownfield in the Venezuelan capital. Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns summoned Venezuelan Ambassador Bernardo Alvarez to the State Department and told him that Venezuela was in violation of an international treaty that requires the host countries to ensure the safety of foreign diplomats, department spokesman Sean McCormack said. The incident "clearly was condoned by the local government," McCormack said. Pro-government activists bombarded Brownfield's car with fruit and vegetables and a group of motorcyclists chased the convoy, at times...

In the opinion of US Ambassador William Brownfield, Venezuelan Vice-President José Vicente Rangel was kidding when he labeled as "toilet paper" the annual report on human rights issued last week by the US State Department. "I think that my good friend, the Honorable Vice-President was joking a little bit with us when he referred himself to the report as toilet paper, because, as you know, my government is a government of the 21st Century and we do not use paper for our reports. It is an electronic report. Therefore, in no way he was serious," Brownfield said. The diplomatic noted...

In recent weeks, gun violence in Toronto has become so prevalent that even the lefties who think that all of society’s problems can be solved with group hugs, can’t avoid the issue. When a recent spate of gun violence happened, that included the shooting of a 4-year-old boy outside of his home, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty swung into action. The premier, who has been lately speaking about "American guns on Canadian streets" said that he would discuss the matter of guns with the new American ambassador, David Wilkins

John Bolton may finally get his up-or-down vote in the U.S. Senate this week. Or next week. Or the week after. Or maybe never, depending on how long the Democrats can maintain their filibuster against his nomination. Now an undersecretary of state, John Bolton is the president's pick for the next American ambassador to the United Nations, an organization that long has needed a severe talking-to, not to mention a thorough investigation, fumigation and general overhaul. The oil-for-food scam may be the U.N.'s biggest scandal at the moment, but it's scarcely the only one. All of which explains why Mr....

This past week, the charlatans in the Senate of the United States managed to once again delay the confirmation of John Bolton as Ambassador to the United Nations. President Bush needs to listen to these imprudent senators and learn from his past mistakes. The Senate led by socialist Democrats and grandstanding Republicans who want attention, is only trying to help the president set the ship of state on a proper course to "follow" for the future. Your Democrat Party firmly believes that the United States needs to stop its aimless and reckless wondering and let others lead the way. The...

Kofi Annan breezed into Philadelphia this week to pick up an honorary degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Despite presiding over one of the most corrupt and hypocritical institutions in the world, Annan still gets the celebrity Nobel Peace Prize-winner treatment virtually everywhere he goes. Scandals come and go at the United Nations. Anti-Semitism thrives in its halls like the ivy on the walls of Harvard and Yale, but Kofi Annan is still treated like a scholarship student by the chattering classes. But while Annan continues on his lifelong champagne-and-caviar tour of international diplomacy, in Washington, D.C., John Bolton has...

Democrats said they will try to filibuster John R. Bolton, the president's nominee to be ambassador to the United Nations, if the Bush administration does not turn over two final sets of documents. "If the administration doesn't give us this information, then I want a 60-vote requirement here so that senators can express their views on this issue of the documentation that we need," said Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, Connecticut Democrat and a member of the Foreign Relations Committee who has been among Mr. Bolton's strongest critics. Republicans say there are enough votes to confirm Mr. Bolton once those objections...

Even as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee sent John Bolton’s nomination as our next ambassador to the United Nations to the Senate floor last week, rumors began emanating from the United Nations that Secretary-General Kofi Annan may just hang it up before his term ends in December 2006 and head home to Ghana either to raise tomatoes or run for president. Things do change. Just a few weeks ago it appeared that Annan had a better chance of surviving the spring than Bolton. Annan bristled at the suggestion that he would consider resigning even in the face of mounting evidence...

Support John Bolton For U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations We need someone who can stand up to the “Blame America First” crowd at the United Nations. We need an ambassador to the U.N. who won’t be intimidated by the tyrants, despots and dictators who routinely team up to fight American interests at the U.N.John Bolton is the man this country needs to fight for our American values.You can help ensure that John Bolton is confirmed by the U.S. Senate to serve as America’s ambassador to the United Nations. The following video is a clip from an anti-Bolton website, “StopBolton.Org”....

"There is no United Nations. There is an international community that occasionally can be led by the only real power left in the world -- and that's the United States -- when it suits our interests, and when we can get others to go along...." This kind of mindless creation of the United Nations as something different from what it's in the United States' interest to do isn't going to sell here or anywhere else. You know this speaker and his ilk. Or do you? Read on. One of the primary complaints about John Bolton is that he does indeed...

MEXICO CITY - U.S. Ambassador and Texas Republican star Tony Garza is marrying his very wealthy Mexican wife today — again — in a private ceremony at a piney woods lake resort to which Mexico City's elite retreat for weekends. Garza and Maria Asuncion Aramburuzabala, a brewing and television magnate who reportedly is Mexico's wealthiest woman, were wed by the Roman Catholic Church in late February. Today's civil ceremony is for their union to be legal here. The ecstatic couple make clear that it's all about the love. But their marriage weds enormous wealth with political potential, making them a...

Billionaire globalist George Soros is helping to lead the opposition to John Bolton becoming the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, says watchdog group Accuracy in Media. Bolton, who has served as undersecretary of state, today is facing questioning from senators before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee as part of his confirmation process. Bolton's candidacy "is the biggest battle over a nomination that we have seen in years," said Accuracy in Media editor Cliff Kincaid. "But the Big Media have refused to identify the role of George Soros in orchestrating the opposition to Bolton." AIM says the pro-world government...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted on Sat, Feb. 05, 2005 U.S. ambassador, Mexican heiress to wed BY LENNOX SAMUELS The Dallas Morning News MEXICO CITY - (KRT) - It could qualify as the raw material for one of those romantic movies starring J. Lo and one of her leading men, say Ralph Fiennes or Richard Gere or, dare we say, Ben Affleck. A highly eligible American expatriate is smitten with a citizen of the country where he's based, after meeting the glamorous divorcee at a power dinner. Business and diplomacy postpone the onset of romance, because, well, he's the U.S. ambassador and she's...

One year of freedom in Iraq should not be lightly dismissedBy William Farish (Filed: 19/03/2004) Today marks the first anniversary of the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom. We have made enormous strides in 12 months. Iraq, today, faces many challenges, but it is also much different and much better place than a year ago. Last month, Oxford Research International conducted a survey of 2,652 people from all 16 governorates in Iraq. When asked to compare life a year ago to their life today, more than 56 per cent of Iraqis stated that their life was better. When asked how things...

The following is a copy of an e-mail sent to the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on Dec. 16, 2003: ------------------------------- This is the title I gave to this e-mail: UNHOLY ALLIANCE - CARDINAL RENATO MARTINO AND SADDAM HUSSEIN. Contents: International News - December 16, 2003 Cardinal Backs Trial for Saddam Hussein December 16, 2003 02:51 PM EST VATICAN CITY - A top Vatican cardinal said Tuesday Saddam Hussein should face trial for his crimes, but stressed the Vatican's opposition to the death penalty and criticized the U.S. military for portraying him "like a cow" having his teeth checked....

Former U.S. Ambassador to Gabon Says Administration Twisted His Findings on Iraq Intelligence The Associated Press WASHINGTON July 7 — An envoy sent by the CIA to Africa to investigate allegations about Iraq's nuclear weapons program contends the Bush administration manipulated his findings, possibly to strengthen the rationale for war. That conclusion came on Sunday from Joseph Wilson, former U.S. ambassador to the West African nation of Gabon, who was dispatched in February 2002 to explore whether Iraq tried to buy uranium from Niger. That desert country is the world's third-largest producer of mined uranium. Writing in a New York...

<p>The U.S. ambassador to Egypt, David Welch, has "deviated from all diplomatic norms," complains Mustafa Bakri, editor of the Egyptian weekly Al-Usbu.</p> <p>Mr. Welch answered a spate of columns and stories in the Egyptian press pegged to the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Local journalists and scholars seized on the date to give yet another airing to conspiracy theories that circulate widely in the Middle East, which claim Israelis or Americans themselves had staged the atrocities. "Leading Egyptian newspapers and magazines in the past two weeks alone have published columns by senior columnists who suggested governments or groups other than Al Qaeda were responsible," wrote Mr. Welch. "A leading Egyptian professor of sociology, in a public lecture on Sept. 11, spent nearly half an hour trying to cast doubt on Al Qaeda's culpability, and even went to far as to implicate the American government by asserting that America had benefited from the attacks."</p>

(IsraelNN.com) US Ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer today decried the situation in PA autonomous areas, calling it a "humanitarian disaster". The ambassador was addressing a forum of Israeli negotiators and members of the international team working to move ahead PA reforms. Mr. Kurtzer called on Israel to make additional concessions and relax restrictions on PA residents