Anti-Terror Tops Summit Agenda
Leaders of the world's most powerful countries, intent on demonstrating a united front against terrorism at their annual summit, prepared a joint plan to make air travel and cargo shipments safer.
Underscoring the cooperative theme, President Bush signed legislation Tuesday allowing the United States to participate in two U.N. terrorism initiatives.
The anti-terror war topped the agenda for the Group of Eight summit, set to begin Wednesday. Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien also hoped to devote significant attention to boosting assistance to Africa, the world's poorest continent, although U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned against "unrealistic expectations" and "magic success."
Chretien was the first leader to arrive at this remote resort nestled in the Canadian Rockies, his helicopter touching down Tuesday morning at a landing pad framed by snowcapped mountains. He did not speak to reporters.
Leaders of the other G8 countries - the United States, Russia, Japan, Britain, Germany, France and Italy - were arriving throughout the day, landing at Calgary's airport and greeted by a Canadian honor guard before taking the 45-minute helicopter ride to the resort.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi waved his arms in appreciation of brilliant blue skies. He briefly donned his arrival gift, a white Stetson hat symbolizing Calgary's cowboy heritage.
President Bush got the same treatment: Calgary Mayor David Bronconnier presented him with a white Stetson.
Mr. Bush was holding one-one talks with Chretien and Koizumi later Tuesday in an effort to shape a common approach to the summit agenda and deal with ticklish issues such as Bush's protectionist moves to slap high tariffs on foreign steel and greatly expand subsidies for American farmers.
Before leaving Washington, Bush signed legislation that allows the United States to participate in two U.N. conventions, one to beef up efforts to prevent terrorist bombings and the other to choke off the flow of money to terrorist groups.
Annan and the presidents of four African nations -- Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Algeria -- were invited to join in the discussions on Africa, which were expected to result in approval of an aid plan to boost support by billions of dollars for countries pursuing economic and governmental reforms.
Annan cautioned against overblown expectations about what the summit could produce, saying the new partnership between rich countries and Africa that the summit should forge would not be some type of magic formula.
This year's summit was being held under heavy security, with thousands of Canadian military forces deployed to protect an eight-mile wide security zone.
Anti-globalization demonstrators, who last year engaged in violent clashes with police in Genoa, Italy, which left one protester dead, were being kept miles away from the meetings. As an alternative, they planned protest marches for Wednesday in Calgary, Alberta, where reporters covering the summit were staying, and in Ottawa, the Canadian capital.
Calgary streets were quiet on Tuesday although a number of shopkeepers had taken the precaution of boarding up their windows. And in Ottawa, mailboxes and glass street lamps had been removed from the downtown area.
During talks on Monday in Ottawa, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder urged Chretien to pressure Bush on the issue of his recent signing of a farm bill that will provide $190 billion in subsidies to American farmers over the next decade, indicating that Europeans were not in a position to offer criticism because of their own large subsidies.