John W. Warner, the Republican of Virginia who is chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said he had spoken with Mr. Rumsfeld about suspending contacts with the Chinese military and heartily endorsed the tougher line that it suggested.
It added that "the I.R.A. therefore, has suspended contact" with the arms inspectors.
Commenting on Israel's decision to suspend contact with the EU over the peace process Saeb Erekat, Secretary General of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, said that Netanyahu was "blackmailing the international community".
China's state broadcaster CCTV said yesterday that Beijing had suspended contacts, including talks on increasing flights, and postponed a meeting on coal.
But Mr. Abbas suspended contacts after Israeli Army operations to stop rocket fire from Gaza killed more than 120 Palestinians, including many civilians, in late February and early March.
China's decision to suspend contacts at the ministerial level and above came after a Japanese court approved a request by prosecutors to hold Zhan until 28 September, when they must either indict or release him.
Mr. Abbas originally suspended contacts and peace talks with Israel indefinitely; after a plea from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, he agreed on Wednesday to return to negotiations, but refused to say when.
Now the Americans announced that they would suspend contacts with the FARC until, improbably, it handed over the culprits to the Colombian authorities.So far, so bad, for the cause of peace.
And in several cases, the American Embassy was forced to use go-betweens in the Chinese government, apparently because Chinese arms-control offices had suspended contacts with Washington in the wake of American weapons sales to Taiwan.
Israel Curbs Palestinian Travel in the West Bank Israel imposed new travel restrictions on Palestinians in the West Bank and suspended contacts with the Palestinian Authority in response to two drive-by shootings that killed three young Israelis and wounded several other people a day earlier.
