25 June 2002

Bush Travels to G8 Summit in Canada, A Day After His Mideast Speech

Mideast, anti-terrorism measures, African development high on agenda

By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent

Calgary -- A day after his much-anticipated White House speech on the Middle East, President Bush was traveling June 25 to Kananaskis, Canada, the rugged site in the Canadian Rockies of this year's G8 Summit.

Bush's first order of business late in the day June 25 was to hold two bilateral meetings -- first with Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and then with Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien, this year's summit host.

On June 26, Bush is to hold a bilateral meeting with Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair, and on June 27 with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.

Bush in a statement June 25 said he will be discussing with the G8 leaders "ways that we can ensure that all countries take stronger legal measures against terrorism."

In particular, he urged all countries to join the United States in becoming parties to two international conventions against terrorism, the International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings and the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism.

Bush said he will continue to work with world leaders "to build a consensus that terrorism, whatever the excuse, is unacceptable."

According to White House officials the anti-terrorism campaign and African development are at the top of the U.S. agenda for the summit. Several African leaders have been invited to the summit: President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, President Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria, and President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal. United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan also will attend.

Prime Minister Chretien, according to reports, chose the remote Kananaskis site -- 90 kilometers from Calgary -- for the June 25-27 G8 meeting in an effort to make the summit less formal and avoid the violent protests against globalism that marked the 2001 G8 Summit in Genoa, Italy.

Thousands of police and troops are on duty at the site and in Calgary, where a few hundred protestors are expected to meet June 26 early in the morning.

Attending the summit are the leaders of the world's seven leading industrialized nations -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States -- plus Russia.

The G7 leaders will start the summit on the morning of June 26 by discussing the state of the global economy. Over lunch that day they will be joined by Russia's president, who will attend the rest of the meetings.

The G8 leaders are expected to discuss the fight against terrorism and boosting sustainable development at an afternoon meeting June 26. Dinner that night, reportedly, will be devoted to issues high in the news including the Middle East, Afghanistan and India and Pakistan. The June 27 sessions will concentrate on an action plan for Africa.

Prior to flying to Canada, Bush flew early in the morning to Arizona to inspect extensive forest fires there and visit with some of the victims.

On the flight to Arizona, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer responded to reporters' questions about the Bush Middle East policy.

"The president believes very strongly that if the parties want to find a way out of the violence, they need to heed his call," Fleischer said. "The president believes his speech represents the best long-term hope for Israel. He is very worried about the future viability of Israel unless a Palestinian state is created." With regard to the Palestinians, Fleischer said, "The president is not asking the Palestinian Authority anything more or less than he has asked of any other nation in the world. Look at Pakistan."