Blair reaches out to Bush

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JAN. 8. The Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair has dismissed suggestions that his ``special'' relationship with the outgoing U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton could turn out to be a liability as Britain tries to reach out to a Republican White House.

Accusing sceptics of trying to create a divide, Mr. Blair said only the ``world's bad guys'' would benefit from frosty British- U.S. relations. Mr. Blair, who is set to become the first ``European'' leader in office to meet Mr. George W. Bush after the latter takes over as President, told BBC's Breakfast with Frost that he believed Mr. Bush had the ``greatest support and respect'' for his country's relations with Britain. ``I just say this to anybody who wants to cause trouble between Britain and America: the only people who ever benefit from that are the world's bad guys, OK?'' While acknowledging that his personal equation with Mr. Bush may not be as warm as it had been with Mr. Clinton, he said he would nevertheless strive to have the ``best of relationship'' with the new President. That, he said, was his ``job and duty''.

Undeterred by indications that the Bush administration might pursue a more insular foreign policy, Mr. Blair sought to revive the grand vision that he and Mr. Clinton shared - that of ``sorting'' out the world's problems. He said Britain and America ``standing together can sort out many of the problems in the world'' and advocated a closer and more effective European- Atlantic alliance. This is the message that he is likely to put across when he meets ``President Bush'' in what would be the first ever face-to-face meeting between the two leaders.

Mr. Blair's remarks are seen as a conscious attempt to mend fences with the Republicans who were clearly not Labour's preferred choice for White House. By rushing to seek an appointment with Mr. Bush, he has signalled his willingness to take the initiative in building bridges with the new regime, even as he has taken care of any move by the Tories to queer the pitch.

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Section  : International
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