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Bush begins Poland visit

US President George W. Bush bows his head after laying a wreath at the Wall of Execution at Aushwitz, the former concentration camp, yesterday in Auschwitz, Poland. PHOTO: AP

S President George W. Bush arrived in Poland on Friday for a European and Middle East tour, with US officials saying it was time to look to the future after the Iraq war and advance Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking.

"It's not to say that we didn't have a bad run with some of our closest friends and allies and partners, but you move on," said US Secretary of State Colin Powell, a clear reference to rifts with European heavyweights France and Germany on the war.

"Politics and diplomacy is about moving on," Powell told reporters traveling with Bush aboard Air Force One for the week-long trip.

Powell said Bush's planned summit with Israeli and Palestinian leaders was on track, but sought to play down expectations for much progress beyond getting both sides to recommit themselves to taking steps to ease tensions.

The president was visiting Poland for the second time to thank the new-found ally and standard-bearer of "new Europe" for its staunch support in the US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein. Warsaw has pledged to lead peacekeeping forces in part of Iraq.

Bush, who landed in Poland's southern city of Krakow visited the former Nazi German death camp at nearby Auschwitz yesterday. He is the first US president since Gerald Ford in 1975 to do so.

He will also attend ceremonies in St. Petersburg, Russia, marking the city's 300th anniversary, take part in a G8 summit in Evian, France, engage in Middle East diplomacy in Egypt and Jordan, and visit US troops in Qatar.

At the G8 summit, Bush will encounter his main opponents on the Iraq war: French President Jacques Chirac, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin. He will have private talks with Chirac and Putin, but not Schroeder.

In a pre-trip interview with foreign journalists, Bush said he knew reporters would want to portray the summit as a "confrontational meeting," but that would not be the case. "It's an opportunity to talk with some who agreed with us on Iraq, and some who didn't, about how we move forward."

But the president made clear his continued annoyance at Chirac for leading the opposition to a UN Security Council resolution that would have authorized military force against Iraq and given Bush more political cover.

Bush said nothing about Schroeder, who irked the president by emphasizing his opposition to US policy on Iraq as he campaigned for re-election, but had glowing words for Putin, suggesting US ties with Russia were back on track.

At the G8 summit, Bush will try to persuade European leaders to increase funding for fighting AIDS, famine and poverty in Africa. The G8 comprises the US, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, Canada and Russia.

Putting his own prestige on the line in seeking implementation of a so-called international "road map" for Middle East peace, Bush will skip a summit dinner and the reading of the final communique to fly to Egypt.

Powell expressed cautious optimism about Bush's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in Aqaba, Jordan, on Wednesday.

Bush is also due to meet Arab leaders, including Abbas, in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh.

"The road map isn't as important as what happens within the concept of a road map," Powell said.

"If we can come away from Aqaba with ... the Israelis and the Palestinians committing themselves ... to taking the steps that they have been talking about, I think that will be a successful outcome," he said.
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