By Jean-Louis Doublet
Washington - American President George Bush, who kept something of a low profile at the G8 summit that closed on Friday at Gleneagles, Scotland, appears nonetheless to have got what he wanted on climate change and aid to Africa issues.
Thursday's transport system bombings in London as Group of Eight - Germany, Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Britain and Russia - work groups got underway, allowed Bush to set the fight against terrorism firmly back on the agenda.
"The war on terror goes on," said Bush, as he condemned the bombings of three underground trains and a bus which have killed at least 50 people, and injured around 700.
Continues Below ↓
'The war on terror goes on'
"On the one hand, we have people here who are working to alleviate poverty, to help rid the world of the pandemic of Aids, working on ways to have a clean environment," said Bush. "And on the other hand, you've got people killing innocent people."
The summit's host, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the closest international ally the US president has, left the summit to hurry back to London following the attacks on the British capital, returning to Scotland late Thursday evening.
In the weeks prior to G8, President Bush had given just enough leeway to the most delicate subjects to allow him to reach accords allowing him to keep the essential points of his positions.
On the matter of global warming, the G8 declaration on climate change mentions the Kyoto protocol on the reduction of greenhouse gases and recognizes that: "Climate change is a serious and long-term challenge that has the potential to affect every part of the globe."
It notes that "uncertainties remain in our understanding of climate science", abstaining from setting reduction goals, unlike the Kyoto protocol, in response to US wishes not to see the fight against global warming undermine world economic growth.
Continues...
|
StumbleUpon
Reddit
Digg
Delicious
Newsvine
Facebook
muti
Twitter
