Bush Arrives in Paris

26/05/2002| IslamWeb

U.S. President Bush arrived in Paris Sunday for a two-day visit to France, set to start with a meeting with President Jacques Chirac. After a short ceremony at Orly airport, Bush was to be whisked away to the presidential Elysee Palace in a heavily-guarded motorcade. Some 3,500 police were deployed around the capital to provide security for Bush and to supervise a demonstration planned to coincide with his meeting with Chirac.

The two heads of state are expected to discuss the U.S.-led war on terrorism, the tension between India and Pakistan, the Middle East, and trade relations between Europe and the United States.

Monday, Bush will visit the American Cemetery in Normandy to deliver a Memorial Day speech to honor the U.S. soldiers who died in the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany.

Bush went to France after 24 hours of sightseeing and personal bonding with President Vladimir Putin. As he was about to leave St. Petersburg, Bush again called on India and Pakistan to show restraint in their standoff, expressing "strong reservations" about new Pakistani missile tests. He also urged India not to view them as a provocation. (Read photo caption)

GEORGE AND VLADIMIR

The two leaders, who now call each other almost exclusively George and Vladimir in public, signed a landmark treaty in Moscow on Friday pledging to cut both countries' deployed nuclear warheads by two-thirds over the next decade.

Saturday was devoted to post-summit relaxation and Sunday morning to church services before a tour of the world's largest collection of Russian art, housed in a museum inside St. Petersburg's Mikhailovsky Palace.

PHOTO CAPTION

U.S. President George Bush is followed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as they are ready to board a boat for a cruise on the Neva River in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, May 25, 2002. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)