G-8 Summit Ends With Emphasis on Mid East Reform

The harmony and public bonhomie on display during the summit failed to mask differences between leaders of the world's eight richest nations, in particular between French President Jacques Chirac and U.S. President Bush.

On Thursday Bush appealed to his heavyweight allies to do more to guide Iraq's transformation to a stable democracy, saying the "Iraqi people need help" to defend themselves, rebuild their country and hold elections.

Although Bush scored a victory at the start of the summit with the U.N. Security Council approving a new resolution on Iraq, French President Jacques Chirac -- one of the strongest opponents of the Iraq war -- rebuffed Bush's suggestion that with several NATO states already engaged in Iraq, the alliance's role could be expanded there.

"I won't hide it from you that I don't think it is NATO's purpose to intervene in Iraq," Chirac said Wednesday according to The Associated Press. "What's more, I don't feel that it would be opportune nor necessarily well understood. I am totally reserved about this issue," he said.

However, on Thursday, the last day of the summit, both Bush and Chirac attempted to appear more cordial at a private meeting. Bush acknowledged past differences with the French president and told reporters: "Friends are able to discuss the future."

A French official also said that despite Chirac's reservations about an expanded NATO role in Iraq, he is open to discussion ahead of a NATO summit in Turkey at the end of the month.

Canada, France and Germany also made it clear that even after passage of the resolution, they wouldn't send troops to the country.

The leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia were also unable to agree on Bush's appeal for oil-rich Iraq's debts be forgiven. They left the issue open, only deciding that there would be "substantial" debt forgiveness.

Positive report card from Schröder

German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder had an upbeat assessment of the meetings on Sea Island, saying lot of hard work was done there, despite many leaders' dispensing with their ties and three-pieces suits during meetings. Schröder said the unanimous vote in the U.N. Security Council for the resolution on Iraq had not only made the summit work easier, it had proved that one can "come together."

While standing by his pledge not to send German soldiers to Iraq, he said Germany would not stand in the way of NATO doing so.

Schröder said one of the signals from the summit was a desire to stabilize the "very, very good" situation that the global economy finds itself in. One of the main risks, however, to economic stability is the insecurity in the Middle East. Another is the price of oil, if it remains at its current record-high prices.

Middle East democratization

G-8 Leaders at the summit did agree to President Bush's initiative to promote democratic reform in the Arab world, and they offered Middle Eastern and northern African states a political and economic partnership, which would include regular talks at ministerial level, aid in organizing free and transparent elections, increased efforts to fight illiteracy and loans for small businesses.

But along with the French president, German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder was still cautious about the plans. "The West must not make the mistake of imposing its ideas of inner-social development." Democratization must come from the countries themselves, he said.

Arab states were critical of the initiative, accusing the G-8 of meddling in internal affairs. The heads of six Moslem countries, including Iraqi interim President Ghazi Al-Yawer, took part in the talks. Other Arab statesmen, including the Egyptian and Saudi Arabian leaders, rejected the invitation to the summit.

On Thursday the group turned its attention to developmental policies during a session with African leaders. The G-8 was to endorse an initiative to battle famine and also commit itself to training and, where necessary, equipping 75,000 peacekeepers to deal with crises in Africa.

They plan to discuss debt forgiveness for the world's poorest countries and meet with African statesmen to talk about the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) project to introduce reforms on the African continent.

The group also agreed on a proposal to speed up development of a vaccine for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Bush proposed spending €15 million to launch it.

G-9 or G-10?

British Premier Tony Blair, who will take over the G-8 presidency in July, said member states were in agreement that the group should be expanded to include other countries, such as China or India.

The German chancellor also said he believed China would be a candidate to participate in future meetings as the country had dramatically changed over the past years.

Chirac expressed his regrets that unlike French officials at the last meeting in Evian, the U.S. had not invited China, India or Brazil to the meeting.