G8 Conference Concludes

[Art Sandusky 0]

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/07/09...n.ap/index.html

Reaction polarized as G8 concludes

Blair: 'It is a beginning, not an end'

 

Saturday, July 9, 2005; Posted: 2:10 a.m. EDT (06:10 GMT)

 

GLENEAGLES, Scotland (AP) -- World leaders concluded an economic summit shaken by terrorism, offering an "alternative to the hatred" -- aid packages for Africa and the Palestinian Authority and a pledge to address global climate change.

 

But reaction to the outcome was polarized: Rockers Bob Geldof and Bono, two of the world's best known Africa fund-raisers, declared victory. But aid groups said the pledges didn't go nearly far enough.

 

"We speak today in the shadow of terrorism, but it will not obscure what we came here to achieve," British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the summit host, said Friday as he closed the three-day gathering, referring to Thursday's bus and train bombings in London.

 

"It is in the nature of politics that we do not achieve absolutely everything we hope to achieve, but nonetheless I believe we have made very substantial progress indeed," Blair said.

 

With a last-minute pledge from Japan, Blair won a key victory, announcing that aid to Africa would rise from the current US$25 billion to US$50 billion by 2010.

 

Geldof praised the leaders for pledging to double aid to Africa, saying it will save the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. "The world spoke and the politicians listened," Bono added.

 

But aid groups didn't see it that way.

 

"What Africa needed from the G-8 was a giant leap forward. All it got was tiny steps," said Caroline Sande Mukulira of ActionAid. "The deal that has been announced falls way short of our demands. We have some aid, but not enough, some debt relief but not enough and virtually nothing on trade. Once again, Africa's people have been shortchanged."

 

Peter Hardstaff, head of policy for the World Development Movement, described the summit's final declarations as "a disaster for the world's poor."

 

"The agreements on trade, debt, aid and climate change are nowhere near sufficient to tackle the global poverty and environmental crisis we face," he said. "We are furious, but not surprised."

 

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz praised the G-8's plan on Africa, but insisted success depended on rich nations and African leaders delivering on their commitments. Wolfowitz also said further progress was needed on fair trade to ensure developing countries could compete.

 

"It is very important to stress that it is a partnership," he told AP. "It is not just about spending more money. It is about having African leaders who understand their responsibility to make sure that that money is spent wisely."

 

In a separate joint statement on terrorism, the leaders pledged new joint efforts against terrorism in light of the London bombings, including cooperation to improve the safety of rail and subway travel.

 

Blair lost his push to get all summit countries to commit to boosting foreign aid to an amount equal to 0.7 percent of national income by 2015. Instead, a summit document said the European Union had agreed to that support but did not mention the United States.

 

U.S. President George W. Bush had refused to be bound by the 0.7 percent target. The United States is giving 0.16 percent of national income, the smallest percentage of any of the G-8 countries.

 

Blair ticked off a list of accomplishments from a meeting that nonetheless produced less than he hoped. The major failure was in global warming, where staunch opposition from Bush thwarted Blair's efforts to get a U.S. commitment to firm targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.

 

But Blair noted that all the G-8 leaders took the unusual step of signing the final summit communiques as a way of demonstrating their determination to meet the new goals.

 

"If we implement this, we will make poverty history," Blair told reporters.

 

French President Jacques Chirac said finding new ways to finance the support that rich country's give Africa was crucial. He put in a plug for his idea to have all countries levy a tax on international airline tickets to support poverty relief.

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has been accused of rolling back democracy in Russia, said it was important to protect democratic freedoms in the battle against terrorism. He said they "want to use the instruments of democratic society to destroy democracy."

 

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said the summit had been "overall successful," with leaders able to deal with the summit agenda in spite of the London bombings.

 

Aside from the increase in aid for Africa, the leaders pledged to set a date for ending subsidies on farm exports, which Blair said he believed would be done at a meeting of the World Trade Organization in December in Hong Kong.

 

The leaders also endorsed a deal reached by their finance ministers last month to cancel the debt of 18 of the world's poorest nations, pledged universal access to AIDS treatment, renewed their commitment to a peacekeeping force in Africa and heard African leaders promise to move toward democracies that follow the rule of law.

 

"All of this does not change the world tomorrow -- it is a beginning, not an end," Blair said, with leaders of the G-8 and five African nations standing behind him. "And none of it today will match the same ghastly impact as the cruelty of terror. But it has a pride and a hope and humanity at its heart that can lift the shadow of terrorism and light the way to a better future."

 

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo thanked the leaders for focusing on Africa and for "their resolve not to be diverted by these terrorist acts."

 

The G-8 also agreed on an aid deal of up to US$3 billion per year for the Palestinian Authority over the next three years, their joint communique said. Blair said the deal would allow "two states, Israel and Palestine, two peoples and two religions (to) live side by side in peace."

 

The leaders, struggling to keep to their mission in the aftermath of the London bombings, shortened the summit's final day to allow Blair to rush back to lead a government panel dealing with the blasts. Bush also left Gleneagles earlier than scheduled Friday.

 

Blair left the summit for several hours Thursday to confer with officials at Scotland Yard and calm a nation shocked by the worst attacks on the capital since World War II.

 

Within hours of the London bombings, Bush and the other leaders issued a special joint statement that condemned "these barbaric acts."

 

"We are united in our resolve to confront and defeat this terrorism that is not an attack on one nation, but on all nations and on civilized people everywhere," the leaders said.

 

It's been overshadowed by this up-and-down week in Britain, but any time the leaders of the eight most industrialized nations in the world meet, it's important. If there was just some way to foolproof money that was sent to Africa.

[Jobber of the Week 0]

If there was just some way to foolproof money that was sent to the people who need it in Africa.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

omg fix't.

[MrRant 0]

The only way to get the money in the right hands would be to go in and kill the warlords.

 

But that would be wrong....

 

So let them fight it out amongst themselves.

[Art Sandusky 0]

If the place ends up becoming the next terrorist region like I think it will, we'll end up fighting there one of these days.

[MrRant 0]

Well it would be more worth it there as there are more resources.