Date:08/04/2003 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2003/04/08/stories/2003040804101400.htm

International

Bush, Blair to review war

WASHINGTON APRIL 7. The United States President, George W. Bush, and the British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, are grappling with three of the world's toughest conflicts in Mr. Bush's 25-hour visit to Belfast, discussing war and rebuilding in Iraq while trying to revive peace efforts in Northern Ireland and West Asia.

Mr. Bush left Washington early on Monday en route to Belfast for a summit meant primarily to review war progress and to iron out differences about how Iraq will be rebuilt and governed when hostilities end.

Bomb threats forced police to shut down a Belfast airport and a major highway hours before Mr. Bush was expected to arrive. Police blasted apart a suspicious package but could not confirm it contained explosives.

The reconstruction question has divided the President's advisers and the United States and Britain. Mr. Blair and his European allies want deeper U.N. involvement in post-war Iraq than Mr. Bush, who seeks a transitional governing authority consisting of Iraqi exiles and people living in the country now. A U.S.-led coalition will likely run the country for more than six months until a new Iraqi government is in place, the Deputy Defence Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, said Sunday. — AP