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Bush leaves on high note after Europe farewell tour
2008-06-16
BELFAST (AFP) - US President George W. Bush headed home on a high note Monday after a week-long farewell tour of Europe, concluding with a trip to Britain where he welcomed renewed support on Afghanistan and Iran. Bush made his very last stop in Northern Ireland, hailing the British province as a "success story" and a model for reconciliation in other former troublespots around the world, including Iraq. Earlier in the day British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced more troops for Afghanistan and tougher sanctions on Iran, delighting the president, who leaves office in January after two terms in the White House. Brown said the European Union would shortly unveil measures targeting Iran's banking, oil and gas sectors. Bush declared he hoped for a diplomatic solution to the crisis over Tehran's suspect nuclear programme, but added: "Iranians must understand all options are on the table." The prime minister added that Europe was to freeze assets of Iran's largest bank, Melli Bank, and launch "a new phase of sanctions on oil and gas" after weekend talks by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Tehran. "Today Britain will urge Europe, and Europe will agree to take further sanctions against Iran," Brown said, apparently referring to EU ministerial talks taking place in Luxembourg. But Solana's spokeswoman Cristina Gallach told reporters on the sidelines of those talks that no decision on the sanctions would be reached Monday. British officials said "technical steps" still needed to take place. Brown announced that Britain would send extra troops to Afghanistan, where US, British and other troops are still battling a fierce Taliban insurgency seven years after the country's invasion. Speaking later, British Defence Secretary Des Browne said an extra 230 soldiers would be sent, bringing Britain's total force level to 8,030 by next spring -- its highest level since the country's 2001 invasion. The announcement came as the body of the 100th British soldier to die in seven years of operations in Afghanistan -- seen by both Washington and London as a key frontline against global terrorism -- was being repatriated. Bush also said the United States could help calm tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan over the militants who operate along their shared border, but urged talks between Islamabad and Kabul. "There needs to be better cooperation," Bush said. "There can be more dialogue between the Pak (eds: correct) government and the Afghan government." On Iran, Brown noted that Solana had presented the latest Europe-crafted package of economic and diplomatic rewards for freezing uranium enrichment and that the ball was now in Tehran's court. "We await the Iranian response and will do everything possible to maintain the dialogue," he said. The US president, who arrived in London on Sunday, also held talks Monday with his old friend Tony Blair -- the former British prime minister who is now the international Middle East envoy -- before leaving for Belfast. "We are all thinking about and strategizing about how we can take advantage of the current opportunity to try and advance a settlement between Israelis (and) Palestinians, and notwithstanding some of the political turmoil," said US national security adviser Stephen Hadley. Later, Brown accompanied Bush to Belfast where, joined by Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, they met with Northern Ireland's new First Minister Peter Robinson and his deputy Martin McGuinness. Standing between the Protestant and Catholic politicians, Bush hailed their parties' historic reconciliation. "Northern Ireland is a success story," he said. "The interesting thing about the progress made here is that it's attracted the attention of societies around the world that wonder whether reconciliation is possible for them."
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