US President George W. Bush was to head to Europe yesterday to keep pressure on Iran over its nuclear program even as North Korea threatens to divert his attention by preparing for a missile launch.
Buoyed by a wave of good news after months of grim headlines that damaged him politically, Bush was to head to Vienna for an annual US-EU summit and then to Budapest to mark the 50th anniversary of Hungary's uprising against Soviet rule.
On his 15th trip to Europe since taking office in 2001, Bush will be gone from Washington less than 63 hours, returning home late tomorrow.
In Vienna, he plans to stress that the US and Europe must stand firm in pressing Iran to suspend a uranium enrichment program in order to qualify for an incentives package aimed at containing Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
A US-backed package of incentives was offered to Iran early this month, and the US has said it will join European talks with Iran if it agrees to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
"If Iran's leaders reject our offer, it will result in action before the Security Council, further isolation from the world and progressively stronger political and economic sanctions," Bush said on Monday.
Bush's drive for sanctions is opposed by UN Security Council members China and Russia. The White House said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on the need to work together on the issue in a phone call on Monday.
Bush's task at the summit in Austria, which holds the rotating EU presidency, is to secure European support for sanctions if Iran refuses to suspend enrichment.
North Korea's apparent preparation for a test launch of a missile capable of reaching the US has given the president a new challenge.
* US President George W. Bush planned to emphasize that the US and Europe must stand firm in pressing for Iran to suspend enrichment.
* Bush is also likely to face pressure from European leaders to close the Guantanamo Bay prison in the wake of three suicides there.
* Bush's visit to Vienna is the first by a US leader in 27 years.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is accompanying Bush on the trip, said a North Korean missile test would be a provocative act that Washington would take seriously.
Bush is likely to face more European pressure to close the Guantanamo Bay prison for terrorist suspects after the military announced on June 10 that three detainees had committed suicide.
In Vienna, authorities tightened security ahead of Bush's visit, the first by a US leader in 27 years, cordoning off central parts of the city and stationing police officers on almost every downtown corner.
Police used a remote-control robot to blow up a suitcase and at least two other suspicious packages, including one that had been taped to an electricity junction box and had wires and an antenna poking out of it.
Experts said there were no signs of explosives in the packages.
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