Post by bot on Jun 7, 2004 22:43:35 GMT -5
G-8 offers opportunities for Bush
President seeks support from Europe on Iraq, Middle East
www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/07/g8.summit.ap/index.html
Monday, June 7, 2004 Posted: 12:07 PM EDT (1607 GMT)
SEA ISLAND, Georgia (AP) -- The Bush White House voiced hope Monday that an agreement between the interim Iraqi government and the United States will pave the way for a breakthrough early this week on a new U.N. resolution for Iraq.
Eyeing the opening of the Group of Eight annual summit here Tuesday, Bush and his top aides are lobbying their counterparts for a U.N. Security Council resolution that would endorse the handover of sovereignty in three weeks and authorize a multinational force to remain in Iraq to help provide security.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, talking to reporters Monday on the eve of the summit, hailed the deal reached over the weekend between the leader of the new Iraqi government and the United States.
An exchange of letters between the two governments made clear that sovereignty will be transferred at the end of the month and outlined a new military partnership, under which Iraqis would have some say over the actions of U.S. commanders -- but not a veto.
The agreement "certainly demonstrates that the multinational coalition, with a U.S. commander, of course, and the Iraqi government, have an understanding about how they should go forward," Rice said, "and we believe that understanding should now give comfort to all that the Iraqis will indeed have full sovereignty."
"The Iraqis will have command of their own forces," she said. "There will be mechanisms for the coordination and consultation as well as for decisions of policy issues like policy on sensitive offensive operations."
The pact "should answer any questions about the relationship between Iraqi sovereignty and the multinational force," said Rice, briefing reporters in nearby Savannah, Georgia.
The United States and Britain are pushing for a quick vote on a new Iraq resolution, but France and Germany still are backing an amendment to ensure that Iraq's new interim government can veto major operations by the U.S.-led multinational force.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said a revised draft -- the fourth in two weeks -- would soon be introduced. The United States was hoping to finalize the text Monday night, "with the idea of voting on it on Tuesday afternoon or Tuesday evening," he said.
Rice said that the United States and other governments are "still in the stages of finalizing a number of elements in the resolution, but I think it's fair to say that the spirit moving forward is very good, people are working very hard at it."
"It's a little hard to predict precisely when there will be a vote, but it looks as if it's moving to the point that you would expect something in the next couple of days or so," she said.
Bush faces deep skepticism over an initiative -- to promote democracy throughout the Middle East -- that he hopes the Group of Eight nations will endorse. G-8 members are the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.
Just as last year's summit in the Alpine resort of Evian, France, was heavily focused on Iraq, the get-together Tuesday to Thursday at an exclusive island resort off the Georgia coast faces an agenda dominated by the problems of the Middle East.
The G-8 leaders are expected to vote to extend and expand a debt relief program for the world's poorest nations, due to expire at the end of this year. They also are likely to endorse a new peacekeeping force to deal with conflicts in such places as Africa.
Following the pattern of recent summits, Bush has invited the leaders of six African countries -- Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda -- to have lunch with the summit leaders on Thursday to review progress on a G-8 action plan to attack poverty, AIDS and famine on the continent.
In a more controversial meeting, the G-8 will meet over lunch Wednesday with the leaders of Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Turkey, Yemen and a representative of the new Iraqi interim government to discuss Bush's proposal for a broader Middle East initiative.
However, a leaked draft of the proposal caused an uproar in Arab nations that perceived it as an arrogant America pushing its own ideas. And several Arab countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, turned down Bush's invitation to attend the Sea Island summit.
Rice tried to minimize the significance of the absence of key Mideast countries, despite the administration's effort to put its Mideast democracy initiative front and center here.
"There were a lot of reasons why certain heads of state were not able to be here," she said.
Nevertheless, Rice insisted that the president's proposal, which has caused some consternation in the region, has stimulated "in these countries a debate and a discussion about how they will move forward."
Noting that leaders of countries including Jordan and Bahrain do plan to attend the summit, she said, "This is not a discussion the G-8 is having about the Middle East. It's a discussion they're having with the Middle East."
President seeks support from Europe on Iraq, Middle East
www.cnn.com/2004/US/06/07/g8.summit.ap/index.html
Monday, June 7, 2004 Posted: 12:07 PM EDT (1607 GMT)
SEA ISLAND, Georgia (AP) -- The Bush White House voiced hope Monday that an agreement between the interim Iraqi government and the United States will pave the way for a breakthrough early this week on a new U.N. resolution for Iraq.
Eyeing the opening of the Group of Eight annual summit here Tuesday, Bush and his top aides are lobbying their counterparts for a U.N. Security Council resolution that would endorse the handover of sovereignty in three weeks and authorize a multinational force to remain in Iraq to help provide security.
National security adviser Condoleezza Rice, talking to reporters Monday on the eve of the summit, hailed the deal reached over the weekend between the leader of the new Iraqi government and the United States.
An exchange of letters between the two governments made clear that sovereignty will be transferred at the end of the month and outlined a new military partnership, under which Iraqis would have some say over the actions of U.S. commanders -- but not a veto.
The agreement "certainly demonstrates that the multinational coalition, with a U.S. commander, of course, and the Iraqi government, have an understanding about how they should go forward," Rice said, "and we believe that understanding should now give comfort to all that the Iraqis will indeed have full sovereignty."
"The Iraqis will have command of their own forces," she said. "There will be mechanisms for the coordination and consultation as well as for decisions of policy issues like policy on sensitive offensive operations."
The pact "should answer any questions about the relationship between Iraqi sovereignty and the multinational force," said Rice, briefing reporters in nearby Savannah, Georgia.
The United States and Britain are pushing for a quick vote on a new Iraq resolution, but France and Germany still are backing an amendment to ensure that Iraq's new interim government can veto major operations by the U.S.-led multinational force.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said a revised draft -- the fourth in two weeks -- would soon be introduced. The United States was hoping to finalize the text Monday night, "with the idea of voting on it on Tuesday afternoon or Tuesday evening," he said.
Rice said that the United States and other governments are "still in the stages of finalizing a number of elements in the resolution, but I think it's fair to say that the spirit moving forward is very good, people are working very hard at it."
"It's a little hard to predict precisely when there will be a vote, but it looks as if it's moving to the point that you would expect something in the next couple of days or so," she said.
Bush faces deep skepticism over an initiative -- to promote democracy throughout the Middle East -- that he hopes the Group of Eight nations will endorse. G-8 members are the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.
Just as last year's summit in the Alpine resort of Evian, France, was heavily focused on Iraq, the get-together Tuesday to Thursday at an exclusive island resort off the Georgia coast faces an agenda dominated by the problems of the Middle East.
The G-8 leaders are expected to vote to extend and expand a debt relief program for the world's poorest nations, due to expire at the end of this year. They also are likely to endorse a new peacekeeping force to deal with conflicts in such places as Africa.
Following the pattern of recent summits, Bush has invited the leaders of six African countries -- Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda -- to have lunch with the summit leaders on Thursday to review progress on a G-8 action plan to attack poverty, AIDS and famine on the continent.
In a more controversial meeting, the G-8 will meet over lunch Wednesday with the leaders of Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Turkey, Yemen and a representative of the new Iraqi interim government to discuss Bush's proposal for a broader Middle East initiative.
However, a leaked draft of the proposal caused an uproar in Arab nations that perceived it as an arrogant America pushing its own ideas. And several Arab countries, including Egypt and Saudi Arabia, turned down Bush's invitation to attend the Sea Island summit.
Rice tried to minimize the significance of the absence of key Mideast countries, despite the administration's effort to put its Mideast democracy initiative front and center here.
"There were a lot of reasons why certain heads of state were not able to be here," she said.
Nevertheless, Rice insisted that the president's proposal, which has caused some consternation in the region, has stimulated "in these countries a debate and a discussion about how they will move forward."
Noting that leaders of countries including Jordan and Bahrain do plan to attend the summit, she said, "This is not a discussion the G-8 is having about the Middle East. It's a discussion they're having with the Middle East."