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WORLD> Europe
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Bush to meet with Brown on last day of EU tour
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-06-16 14:17 In the protests on Sunday, meanwhile, 10 police officers were injured and 25 demonstrators were arrested, Scotland Yard said, after protesters tried to breach police lines sealing off Whitehall, yards from where Bush and Brown were meeting. The demonstrations returned to a tense calm before the end of the Downing Street meeting Sunday evening, however. They were principally demonstrating against the invasions of Iraq in 2003 and Afghanistan in 2001, both of which were carried out when Blair, now international envoy to the Middle East, was British premier. Protests have been rare during Bush's week-long tour of Europe, which has taken him to Slovenia, Germany, Italy, the Vatican City and France. Since Bush's visit to Paris, commentators have made much of the new warmth in ties with France, and what are seen to be the cooler relations between Bush and Brown, at least compared to the British PM's predecessor Blair. But US aides were at pains to underline the enduring close ties between Britain and the United States. "Brown is a different personality than Blair. The president, I think, has forged a good, close relationship with each and both of them," said US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley. But he insisted: "What underlines that relationship is the fact that the United States and Britain continue to have a very special relationship." Bush's last visit to London, in November 2003, saw three full days of protests, with tens of thousands of people marching past Downing Street marshalled by 5,000 police officers. Brown went to the US presidential retreat at Camp David outside Washington last July, soon after taking over from Blair, to reaffirm transatlantic ties. He also visited the White House in April this year. |
