Bush Hails Strong Anglo-American relationshipUS President George W Bush hailed strong Anglo-American relationship on Friday morning as he wound up his first official visit to Britain.Speaking to reporters at RAF Brize Norton in England before leaving for the G8 summit in Italy, Bush said: "I can assure the people of Great Britain, as well as the people of our own country, that our relationship and alliance has never been stronger." The president, his wife Laura and daughter Barbara spent Thursday night at Tony Blair's Chequers official country retreat after lunching with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Preparing for boarding his Air Force One flight to Genoa, Bush warned protesters not to disrupt the talks in Genoa, which he said will benefit the Third World nations the demonstrators say they want to help. Amid fears of a repeat of the violence that marred the Gothenburg summit last month, Bush acknowledged people "claiming to represent the poor" would try to disrupt the talks. When he arrives in Genoa, Bush is expected to face more strong criticism over his withdrawal from the Kyoto agreement on global warming and the proposed missile defense system. Both issues were on the agenda for his private talks with Blair, as were the Northern Ireland peace process, the problems in Macedonia and the world economy. Tony Blair, who is traveling separately to the summit, also emphasized the strength of the "special relationship" between the U.S. and Britain when the two men appeared before reporters on Thursday evening after talks at Chequers. |
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