George W. Bush and Tony Blair sealed their alliance with fish and chips at Blair's neighborhood pub on Friday, trying to relax after a tumultuous summit of pageantry, protest and violence in the Middle East.
But despite repeating his vows of loyalty to Bush's "war on terror" and the war in Iraq, Blair came away with no concessions from Washington on the major political issues of the summit: trade and the treatment of British prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
Bush promised only to continue looking into the issue of US tariffs on imported steel -- which hurt British business and which the WTO says are illegal -- and the issue of British prisoners held at the camp in Cuba.
PHOTO: EPA
The leaders may once have hoped Bush's trip to England -- the first time an American president was awarded all the honors of a full state visit -- would amount to a victory celebration after their war in Iraq.
Bush spent three nights at Buckingham Palace as guest of Queen Elizabeth, was honored with a 41-gun artillery salute and a parade of red-coated soldiers in black bearskin hats.
But suicide attacks in Turkey on Thursday -- with Britain's top diplomat in Istanbul among the 27 dead -- turned the visit into a crisis summit. Hours later, more than 100,000 anti-war demonstrators poured into the streets of London, toppling a statue of Bush in an echo of Saddam Hussein.
Both leaders vowed that the attacks in Istanbul, which struck the British consulate and the office of Britain's largest bank, would only reinforce their determination to stand shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism and in Iraq.
The attacks were widely blamed on al-Qaeda militants and suspected to have been a strike on America's closest ally that was timed to coincide with Bush's visit.
"I'm fortunate to have a friend like Tony Blair. America's fortunate to have friends like the people of Great Britain," Bush told reporters at a sports school in Sedgefield, the small country town Blair represents in parliament.
"The people of Great Britain have got grit and strength and determination, and are willing to take on a challenge. And we're being challenged. We're being challenged by killers, cold-blooded killers. And we're going to prevail."
Bush's visit to the countryside at the close of the trip may have been planned to appear low-key, along the lines of his no-neckties summits at his West Texas ranch. He lunched at the local Dun Cow Inn and tossed a soccer ball with some kids.
But fallout from the bloodshed in Istanbul and news of fresh attacks in Iraq kept the men under pressure seemingly until the moment Bush finally boarded Air Force One to head home.
The presence of more than 1,000 police locking down the sleepy countryside town meant the tensions never seemed to ease.
Around 300 anti-war protesters stood waiting for Bush on the village green near Sedgefield's 13th-century parish church, in an echo of Thursday's mass march in London.
"To defeat terrorism, the US is creating more of the same," said retired engineer Malcolm Jones, 58.
Bush and Blair had woken to news of more attacks on Friday.
Guerrillas fired rockets into Iraq's oil ministry compound and two hotels used by foreign contractors and journalists in the latest strikes on targets linked to the US-led occupation.
Reinforcing the sense of siege, Britain's top police officer John Stevens said London would remain on high alert for the foreseeable future -- and had already faced direct threats in the British capital that his force had foiled.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in