|
 Leaders
of G-8 industrial nations, including President Bush, open
their annual summit today amid tight security that has
included the installation of Patriot missile batteries,
intensive training of local emergency workers in dealing
with biological and chemical weapons and explosives and
the shipping of 2,000 body bags to the Georgia island
just in case.
A fire chief told the London Independent
the body bags were delivered to the Chamber of Commerce.
The heightened security at the high-level
meeting of western leaders, hosted by Bush, comes days
after al-Qaida announced impending attacks on "significant
events in the U.S."
Air traffic, with the exception of government
planes and helicopters and three daily commercial flights
from Atlanta, has been suspended for the duration of the
summit.
 Patriot
missiles have been positioned on the beach to shoot down
missiles or unauthorized flights, according to the fire
chief. High-speed gunboats are patrolling the waters around
the island
Firefighters are being issued a biological
antidote for their own personal use, according to the
report.
But the fire chief believes the biggest
threat to public safety will come from the anti-G-8 protesters
facing off with beefed-up police forces.
The governor has announced a state of
emergency and a field on the mainland has reportedly been
fenced off and set aside as a deterntion center should
massive arrests take place.
The Group of Eight club was bitterly divided
on the Iraq war with the U.S., Britain, Japan and Italy
backing military action and Germany, France, Russia and
Canada opposed.
 President
Bush reportedly hopes the U.N. Security Council will approve
a new resolution on the transition of power to the Iraqi
governing council before the start of today's meeting
at a luxury resort on the sub-tropical Atlantic island.
In a push to mend fences, Bush meets alone
today with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian
President Vladmir Putin. He will have talks tomorrow with
French President Jacques Chirac.
G-8 leaders are expected to endorse a
now declaration prepared by U.S. officials on Middle East
reform.
Tomorrow, the G-8 will meet leaders from
Turkey, Jordan, Bahrain, Tunisia, Yemen, Afghanistan and
the Iraqi transitional government.
 |
| George W. Bush tells Japanese
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to stop kicking him
"or else!" at the 2003 Group of Eight summit
in France. Blair was the one who actually did it. |
New Iraqi President Sheik Ghazial-Yawer
is expected to be given a high-profile welcome at the
G-8 in a U.S. effort to underline the symbolism of Iraq's
sovereignty.
The summit emphasis shifts Thursday to
Africa, with HIV/AIDS and development topping the agenda.
Leaders from Ghana, Senegal, South Africa and Nigeria
were due to meet their G-8 counterparts.
More than 20,000 police and soldiers are
providing security at the summit and a media center to
the north in historic Savannah.
Most anti-globalist protesters were being
kept far from the actual summit with demonstrations planned
in the coastal cities of Brunswick as well as Savannah.
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