US President George W. Bush was to defend yesterday his invasion of Iraq in a keynote address after being treated to full ceremonial honors at Buckingham Palace on the first full day of his state visit to Britain.
While pledging his commitment to multilateralism, Bush was to argue for the need at times to "use force to defend the peace," a White House official said.
Bush touched down in London on Tuesday for the first state visit to Britain by a US president.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The trip is being held under the tightest security amid fears of a terrorist attack and with huge anti-war protests planned.
The president and his wife, Laura, are guests of Queen Elizabeth II. They are staying until tomorrow at Buckingham Palace, in central London, where, despite precautions, a British tabloid newspaper said yesterday it had exposed a serious breach of security.
They were to be treated to a ceremonial welcome at the palace yesterday, complete with a 41-gun salute, though -- for security reasons -- without a traditional ride with the queen in an open Victorian carriage down The Mall.
In a lunchtime address, Bush was to underline "three pillars" of his foreign policy -- "effective multilateralism," the necessity at times to "use force to defend the peace and to defend values" and "the spread of democratic values throughout the world," according to a White House official.
"History has shown that there are times when countries must use force to defend the peace and to defend values," the president was to tell an invited audience at Banqueting House.
Talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing Street are set for today, followed by a trip tomorrow to Blair's parliamentary constituency of Sedgefield in northeast England, from where Bush will return to Washington.
Both Bush and Blair are grappling with the political fallout of almost daily deadly guerrilla attacks on occupation forces in Iraq, which the US, aided by Britain, invaded in March, and their talks in London are expected to focus on stepped-up plans to transfer power to Iraqis on June 30 next year.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is also likely to be on the talks agenda, as will US steel tariffs which have prompted fears of a trans-Atlantic trade war, although Bush is not expected to make an announcement on the latter.
In a development which will not reassure the president's security team of several hundred, a British newspaper reported it had uncovered a major breach of security at Buckingham Palace, where Bush was to enjoy a ceremonial welcome and savor a lavish state banquet yesterday.
The Daily Mirror said a reporter had posed undercover for two months as a palace servant, and was due to serve breakfast yesterday morning to US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell, who are accompanying Bush.
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