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G8 Leaders Gather For Summit in Canada
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| Canadian
Prime Minister Jean Chretien and U.S. President George W. Bush
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KANANASKIS,
Canada, June 26 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) – Nearly all the
leaders of the eight most powerful countries in the world arrived
Tuesday, June 25, in Kananaskis, in the Canadian Rockies, to begin an
abbreviated G8 summit.
Leaders
from United States, Canada, Japan, France, Britain, Germany, and Italy
will be sequestered in two luxury hotels, cut off from the world by
tight security.
Russian
President Vladimir Putin will round off the group on Wednesday, June
26, as it launches into a packed schedule of discussions on the global
economy, the war against terrorism, and Africa.
The
situation in the Middle East, however, threatens to overtake some of
the conversations especially since U.S. President George W. Bush
announced his blueprint for regional peace on Monday, June 24, making
the creation of a Palestinian state dependent on the ousting of Yasser
Arafat.
Bush
is scheduled to arrive in Calgary Tuesday night, when he will meet
with Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Japanese Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi.
Playing
host this year, Canada chose a more intimate retreat with reduced
delegations that will hopefully encourage a setting aside of protocol
in favor of more informal discussions.
With
meeting rooms just downstairs from their bedrooms, the leaders may win
back some of the time lost when the summit was cut back to a day and a
half from three, which according to the final statement, would have
provided too much time for nitpicking.
A
year after a 23-year-old protester died during bloody demonstrations
that raged at the previous G8 summit in Genoa, Canada is taking no
chances, as Chretien arranged for the meeting to be held in a location
less accessible to demonstrators and the media.
The
anti-globalization protesters, including activists and representatives
of nongovernmental organizations, that shadow the G8, and the bulk of
the media will be confined to the oil boom town of Calgary, 60 miles
(100 kilometers) from their retreat, ringed by woods which will be
bristling with troops and police laying down the country’s
widest-ever security net. Airspace restrictions are also in effect in
and around Kananaskis.
CNN
reports that the bulk of anti-globalization activity during the summit
will be in Calgary. Protesters at the G8 and other such international
meetings say global trade policies hurt developing nations and the
environment.
G8
summits often start with the best of intentions, but see initial
topics overwhelmed by the political or economic crises du jour.
Behind
closed doors, European concern over Bush’s Middle East policy, and
the perceived unilateralist slant to U.S. foreign, trade and
environment strategy could turn the atmosphere frosty.
European
G8 leaders, while eager for U.S. leadership in the Middle East, tend
to give Palestinian interests comparatively greater weight than the
U.S.
British
Prime Minister Tony Blair’s spokesman said, “We welcome the speech
and the engagement it demonstrates from the U.S. administration,”
but added: “We have always said it is for the Palestinian people to
choose their own leader.”
And
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who has
consistently stood behind Arafat as the legitimate representative of
his people, does not back his ouster and pointedly refrained from
mentioning him in a statement welcoming Bush’s initiative, reports
news agencies.
Bush’s
delivery of his Mideast plan before the summit intends to put his
number one goal, amassing maximum support for his anti-terror
campaign, to take center stage.
“It
is extremely important for the President to come out of the meeting
with the clear sense that it is a fight by all civilized countries
with a very extreme movement that is not acceptable to any of them,”
said James Steinberg, vice president of the Brookings Institution.
The
doomsday scenario of terrorists armed with weapons of mass destruction
will also be on the leaders’ minds.
“We
must step up and coordinate our efforts to make sure that terrorists
do not get their hands on these deadly weapons,” Canadian Foreign
Minister Bill Graham said.
Bush
will push a plan known as “10 plus 10 over 10” which would see
Washington put up $10 billion, matched by $10 billion from the other
G7 states (G8 minus Russia) over 10 years to secure Russia’s excess
plutonium deposits.
For
its part, Russia may receive pressure from other G8 members who
received an open letter from rebel Chechen president Aslan Maskhadov
who called on the leaders to pressure Putin into opening peace talks.
Maskhadov
said he had written to Putin Friday proposing a ceasefire from July 15
and a resumption of contacts tentatively launched last November but
which petered out without progress.
“I
urge you to convince President Putin to accept this proposal,”
Maskhadov said in the letter, a copy of which was faxed to Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
Calling
the proposal “propaganda aimed at influencing international
opinion,” Moscow dismissed the initiative.
On
the economic side, G8 leaders, seeking to reinforce confidence in a
fragile global recovery, meet against the backdrop of the dollar
sliding to a two-year low against the euro and roiled stock markets.
The
dollar’s retreat from a seven-year advance is unlikely to be
mentioned publicly. But the dramatic switch, driven partly by
investors’ fears about a bulging U.S. trade deficit, will overshadow
talk in the corridors.
Questions
hang over the strength and durability of the U.S. recovery. Europe is
following close behind. But Japan, despite pulling out of recession,
appears to be stuck in the slow lane.
Some
G8 leaders are also infuriated by Bush’s imposition of new tariffs
on steel imports, his support for a 70% hike in U.S. farm subsidies
and U.S. duties imposed on Canadian softwood lumber, straining
relations with the host country.
Even
as Chretien welcomes Bush, strains are pulling at U.S.-Canadian
relations. Canada is angry over and recent subsidies for American
farmers.
Canada
has nominated the plight of debt-laden Africa as a dominant theme and
invited five African leaders to the summit, who are seeking
commitments on their “Marshall Plan” for the continent, The New
Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
NEPAD
seeks to target African nations, in order to create conditions for
development and foreign investment, such as stability, rule of law and
good governance, reports news agencies.
G8
leaders will meet Thursday with African leaders and U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss affairs in Africa.
The
continent’s plight has taken on new significance this year as G8
members look to dilute the cocktail of poverty and corruption that can
nurture terrorism.
“We
need to work together to help Africans address critical issues such as
health and education, governance, water and agriculture, trade and
investment, and peace and security,” Chretien said, reports CNN.
But
even here, a sense that the Bush administration is charting its own
course could hamper proceedings.
Although
Bush last week announced $100 million in new aid for African
education, and $500 million more for the fight against AIDS,
Washington would prefer to help African nations on a one-to-one basis
starting with those judged to possess fertile macro-economic
conditions. Some U.S. partners favor a broader approach.
“I
think they are going to insist on bilateral control,” said Gene
Sperling, former chief economic advisor to ex-president Bill Clinton.
“The
big question is; can they find a way to control things in a way that
can be part of NEPAD.”
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