G8 Summit Closes on a Reconciliatory Note

Leaders of the world’s eight leading industrialized nations put up a harmonious front and reconciled bitter divisions as the three-day G8 summit in the French alpine town of Evian drew to a close on Tuesday.

U.S. President Bush and French President Chirac, arch diplomatic adversaries during the Iraq war, held their first private meeting since the conflict and indicated that they were willing to bury differences. "We can have disagreements but that doesn't mean we have to be disagreeable to each other," Bush said adding, "We must now look ahead."

Chirac reciprocated by saying the G8 unanimously supported Bush's efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace. The French President also said he was willing to act on a request by President Bush and send special French troops to Afghanistan. News agency AFP also reported that the two leaders were planning a meeting next year.

Commenting on the state of relations between the two countries, Chirac’s spokeswoman Catherina Colonna told reporters, "We’re focusing on the future. Our relations shouldn’t be a hostage of the past."

Though President Bush didn’t have a face-to-face talk with German Chancellor Schröder, another war opponent whose relations to Washington have soured in recent months, the two had a brief, spontaneous chat on the summit’s sidelines. Schröder aide Mützelburg told reporters the first postwar Iraq summit was of "great importance."

Fight against terrorism a focus

In keeping with the reconciliatory tone of the summit, leaders struck a unanimous chord on a host of issues ranging from the world economy, the fight against terrorism, the curbing of weapons of mass destruction, improving humanitarian aid and fighting AIDS and SARS.

Questions of international security played a dominant role during the summit, heightened by the recent terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia and Morocco. The G8 – the United States, Japan, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Russia, -- agreed on creating its own Counter-Terrorism Action Group which would help interested countries provide specialist training to police as well as help legal authorities combat terrorism and boost their security arrangements.

"For the peace and security of the world, it is essential for all countries, including developing countries, to enhance such capabilities," a statement issued at the summit read.

Curbing weapons of mass destruction

G8 leaders also fell in line with Washington’s priorities as they issued a joint pledge to counter the spread of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and prevent them from getting into the hands of terrorists. They said proliferation of such arms was "the pre-eminent threat to international security."

Leaders reaffirmed tighter controls to ensure that knowledge on weapons technology was not transferred irresponsibly. Since last year’s G8 summit in Canada, "events in the world have underscored the relevance of those principles and the urgency of implementing them," the statement said.

The group also singled out North Korea and Iran for criticism over their nuclear programs. "We strongly urge North Korea to visibly, verifiably and irreversibly dismantle any nuclear weapons programs," the declaration read and added that Iran’s nuclear program could also lead to the production of illegal weapons.

The G8 leaders also urged a clampdown on small, shoulder-held anti-aircraft missiles or "manpads" of the kind that nearly shot down an Israeli airliner in Kenya last November and agreed on introducing biometrics technology to decrease the number of fraudulent passports.

Hopes for economic recovery

Leaders drew a bright face on the sluggish world economy and the fall of the dollar and said they were hopeful of prospects for an economic recovery. Summit host France announced that the leaders had agreed that currency stability was an important element for growth and they would monitor market developments closely. However, not much progress was achieved on stalled world trade talks.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair said the G8 members shared optimism that their anemic economies would recover soon if they stuck to painful but necessary pensions and welfare reforms.

"There's acceptance within the euro zone and within Europe that provided we do face up to and overcome these challenges of structural reform, we've got every prospect of resuming strong growth in the near future," he told a news conference.

A step further for the fight against AIDS

The fight against AIDS, which is believed to afflict about 42 million people around the world particularly in Africa, was also a significant topic at the summit. The U.S. stepped up pressure on the EU to contribute more money for the AIDS battle and match its own share of a billion dollars annually.

French President Chirac hailed the U.S. initiative as "historic" and announced that France would triple its AIDS money from $50 million to $150 million. He said he was confident the EU would in the future also be prepared to shell out a billion dollars for the fight against AIDS . In the past year, the EU’s AIDS contribution amounted to €137 million.