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NMD, Mideast Peace Emerge as Key Issues at G-8 Summit
A plan by the United States to build a national missile defense (NMD) system and the Middle East peace talks are emerging as key subjects of discussions at the Group of Eight (G-8) summit which begins in Nago, Okinawa later Friday.
The prepared agenda issues could lose attention at the summit roundtable depending on how the eight leaders handle the dispute over the NMD plan, G-8 officials said.
US President Bill Clinton could face pressure from other participants as in the case of a pre-summit meeting of the G-8 foreign ministers last week in Miyazaki, southwestern Japan, the officials said.
Russia, France and Germany sharply criticized the US for the proposed NMD shield, saying it could undermine the global disarmament and nonproliferation regime.
The NMD is designed to provide a cover for all 50 US states from ballistic missile attacks. The international community fears that the deployment of such a system would break the arms balance between big powers, thus triggering a new round of arms race around the world.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has gained support from China and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) in his opposition to the U.S. missile initiative, is expected to reiterate Russia's stance against the U.S. plan during the summit.
The Middle East peace process will be another issue high on the agenda when leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States open their three-day summit with a working dinner Friday evening, Japanese government officials said.
The G-8 leaders will voice their support for Israeli and Palestinian efforts to achieve a peace deal after Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed to restart their crucial summit, which was declared a failure earlier at Camp David, Maryland, on Thursday.
Clinton, who arrived in Naha, capital of Japan's southernmost prefecture on Friday morning, delayed his departure for Japan by one day in an attempt to bridge the gaps between Israeli and Palestinian leaders so that they could reach an agreement to end their conflict of more than 50 years.
Japan, which was once worried that the emphasis Clinton had placed on the Camp David talks could overshadow the Okinawa summit, has decided to back Clinton's efforts by incorporating the Middle East issue into the summit agenda, the officials said.
"Summit host Japan must do something" to assist the US efforts to mediate peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, the officials said, adding that Tokyo is also considering taking the initiative in adopting a summit resolution promising economic and personnel assistance to the Palestinians.
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