Blasts Distract G-8 Summit

Blair Returns To Summit After London Trip To Deal With Bomb Attacks

(AP) 
Said Bush: "The contrast couldn't be clearer between the intentions and the hearts of those of us who care deeply about human rights and human liberty, and those who kill, those who've got such evil in their heart that they will take the lives of innocent folks.

"The war on terror goes on," he added.

Many G-8 leaders had sharp disagreements with Bush and Blair over the U.S.-led war in Iraq. But they were united Thursday in condemning the London attacks and pledging intensified efforts to combat terrorism.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called the blasts "perfidious attacks" and said terrorism should be fought "with all the means at our disposal." French President Jacques Chirac said the attacks were "indescribable" and that "this scorn for human life is something we must fight with ever greater firmness."

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin expressed condolences to the victims of the blasts while Russian President Valdimir Putin said through spokesman Alexei Gromov that "no matter where such inhuman crimes occur — in London, New York, Moscow or other countries of the world — they demand unconditional condemnation."

The attacks came as Bush and Blair were meeting over breakfast and answering questions from reporters and before all the leaders were due to begin the summit's general session.

"It's particularly barbaric that this has happened on a day when people are meeting to try to help the problems of poverty in Africa, the long-term problems of climate change and the environment," Blair told reporters.

On climate change, Bush and Blair failed to bridge their differences.

Blair had sought commitments from the United States, along with the other countries, to set specific targets for reduction of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases blamed for global warming.

But Bush has refused, leading Blair to say after their meeting that "there is no point in going back over the Kyoto debate."

The United States is the only G-8 country that has refused to ratify the Kyoto agreement which mandates greenhouse gases reductions. The international treaty took effect in February.

"Now is the time to get beyond the Kyoto protocol and develop a strategy forward," Bush said.

Blair said he hoped to get back on a path to consensus by the time Kyoto expires in 2012.

The meeting began Wednesday with a formal dinner hosted by Britain's Queen Elizabeth.

Hoping to avoid a repeat of protest violence that broke out on the opening day, police — many in riot gear — placed a "safety cordon" Thursday around a camp several miles from Gleneagles that houses some 5,000 activists. Police blocked the main entrance to the camp and urged protesters to stay inside.