Summit leaders pledge support for rebuilding Iraq after war

EVIAN, France -- President Bush's fiercest opponents over Iraq worked to put the war and the rift with America behind them Monday, with French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder pledging firm support to build a stable and prosperous Iraq.

But charges the United States and Britain used flawed intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction to justify the war cast a dark shadow on the summit. British Prime Minister Tony Blair rejected the accusations, leading a chorus of defensive comments around the globe from America and its allies over why they went to war.

Summit host Chirac and other G-8 leaders meeting in this Alpine resort projected outward harmony. Leaders who vehemently opposed Bush's war decision made a conspicuous show of shaking his hand. Privately, the leaders purposefully shrank from discussing their differences over the war and tried to propel their relationships forward.

"We had a good meeting. Because it could have been a disaster," Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien told reporters.

"We realized we had to look to the future instead of the past, and everybody took that stand, with positive effect," he said. "It was very cordial from all sides."

There were even warm words between Bush and Chirac -- estranged after France actively campaigned against the war.

Bush praised Chirac's knowledge of the Middle East and promised to consult him on his diplomatic push to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The two leaders may even meet in the United States in September at the sidelines of the United Nations, Chirac said.

"French-U.S. relations are 200 years old and will, believe me, continue for a long time," he said.

More than forgotten, the acrimony of the past months was being buried.

"We must be frank. We went through a difficult period. There was no question where Jacques Chirac stood" on the war, Bush said. "That is why I can say we had good relations, because we are able to be very honest with each other."

Spinning ahead, the German chancellor's chief political adviser said that Europe and the United States were equally committed to establishing a stable Iraq. Still, none of the G-8 nations made new offers to support the rebuilding effort financially, although the United States is planning to hold a donors conference among rich nations later this year.

Schroeder, speaking to German television, described broad agreement "to leave behind the conflicts over the Iraq war."

On other topics, the leaders claimed that they had addressed some concerns raised by anti-globalization protesters, devoting a record amount of time to discussions to alleviate poverty in developing countries.

The leaders exchanged views on economic reforms and said there were hopeful signs that stronger economic growth was on the way in the United States, Europe and Japan.

Chirac called the economic discussions "very positive" and said the leaders expressed a "message of confidence" that their countries could achieve higher growth rates.

They pledged to redouble efforts to counter global terrorism, focusing on such issues as blocking financing and denying safe haven to terrorists.

And they issued a strong statement urging North Korea to dismantle any nuclear weapons programs and underlining the danger posed by Iran's advanced nuclear program.

But Chretien said the stern warning for Iran to comply with the Non-Proliferation Treaty was not a prelude to military action -- another reminder of how talk of the Iraq war hung over the meeting.

"No. We don't want them to have them," Chretien said. "And if they have them, they have them destroy them."

And while the leaders didn't discuss any issue that hinted of past divisions, allegations that Blair's government doctored evidence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction dogged the British leader on the sidelines.

"I stand absolutely, 100 percent behind the evidence, based on intelligence, that we presented people," Blair told a news conference.

In Rome, Secretary of State Colin Powell defended the case the United States made on Iraq's weapons. "It wasn't a figment of anyone's imagination," Powell said. And at a news conference in Penang, Malaysia, the defense ministers from Britain and Australia said intelligence pointing to illicit weapons in Iraq justified the invasion.

Bush left in mid-afternoon for the Middle East for talks with the leaders of Israel and various Arab countries to get the peace process back on track, but the leaders said his early exit did not hurt progress at the meeting. They offered their full support for Bush's diplomatic shuttle mission that took him straight to Egypt from the shores of Lake Geneva.

"We all felt that he needs to work personally on the Middle East process," Chretien said. "He represents the wishes of the rest of the countries at the discussions."

The summit will end on Tuesday with the reading of a chairman's statement by Chirac and a round of news conferences by the other leaders.

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