Francois Hollande is stuck with an unrealistic pre-election policy which he will have to tone down for an accommodation with Chancellor Angela Merkel whose financial backing he needs to put the French economy on an even keel.

Mikhail Margelov is the first Russian diplomat ever named to perform a shared mission for the Russian, US and German governments. An Arabist with fluent English, he will be acting on their behalf in the Libyan and Syrian crises after helping to ease tensions in Sudan.

Obama's acceptance of the Russian-Libyan formula opens the way for ending the Libyan war by Muammar Qaddafi's departure from power – not the country – making way for transition administration and elections. His sons and loyalists will run for office. The format for Syria expels Bashar Assad and all ...

The deployment of Iranian "military submarines" in the Red Sea, announced Tuesday June 7, was Tehran's response to the latest International Atomic Energy Agency's report accusing Iran of nuclear work with "possible military purposes." It was also a pointed comment on the controversy in Israel over whether or not to go for the military option. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad then delivered his most uncompromising statement yet on Iran's nuclear program, calling it "a train with no brakes or reverse gear."

Away from the cameras focusing on the African Union peacemaking delegation in Tripoli Sunday, April 10 headed by South African President Jacob Zuma, debkafile's exclusive intelligence sources disclose German Chancellor Angela Merkel's discreet but key role in the multinational thrust to broker an end to the Libyan war. Her emissary arrived quietly in the Libyan capital with NATO consent. After refusing to join the war effort against Qaddafi, she now spearheads the bid to end it.

For the first time an international coalition has gone to war against a UN member which does not menace fellow-members but its own people.  It leaves US -  US   Saudi and US-Arab Gulf relations in bad shape.           The UN resolution's reference to "the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, including Benghazi" is easily interchangeable with the name of any other country and city by a Security Council majority. It is therefore a precedent that strikes fear in many capitals. .. .