Protests greet Bush in Australia
Mr Bush was greeted on the steps of Air Force One by Mr Howard
US President George W Bush has arrived in Canberra, where he is to deliver a
thank-you address to the Australian parliament for sending troops to take part in the
war in Iraq.
Thousands of people protested at the central town hall in Sydney ahead of his
arrival, calling for Australian soldiers to be withdrawn from Iraq. More
demonstrations are also planned in Canberra.
An unprecedented security operation involving hundreds of riot police and
anti-terrorist forces is under way for the 20-hour visit which will mark the end of Mr
Bush's six nation Asian tour.
One of the top issues on the tour has been regional security.
En route to Australia in Air Force One Mr Bush spoke of Washington's willingness
to sign a pact with North Korea to ease its concerns.
"We're all willing to sign some sort of document, not a treaty, that says 'we
won't attack you,' but he [North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il] needs to abandon his
nuclear programme, and do so in a verifiable way," Mr Bush said.
Islam 'defiled'
Mr Bush has insisted good progress is being made on resolving the North Korea
nuclear crisis, despite Pyongyang's dismissal of US efforts as "laughable".
Many are unimpressed by Australia's involvement in the Iraq war
But North Korea said in a radio broadcast on Tuesday that it would settle for
nothing less than the formal non-aggression treaty it has been demanding for months.
Before travelling to Australia, Mr Bush made a lightning visit to Indonesia,
where he spoke of the global war on terror, praising the pre-dominantly Muslim nation
for its efforts to combat extremism.
Speaking just a few kilometres from the site of the Bali bombings which killed
202 people last year, Mr Bush said "terrorists who claim Islam as their inspiration
defile one of the world's great religions".
"We know that Islam is fully compatible with liberty and tolerance and progress
because we see the proof in your country and in our own," he said.
Fighter jets
The BBC's Indonesia correspondent Rachel Harvey says the visit was designed to
show support and appreciation for Indonesia's role in the war on terror, but the
unprecedented level of security surrounding the three-hour stopover also showed that
the battle is far from won.
BUSH IN ASIA
Australia agenda:
Meeting with Prime Minister John Howard - with Iraq and the war on terror
expected to top the agenda
Negotiations over a US-Australian free trade pact
Address to the two houses of parliament
Barbecue at Mr Howard's official Canberra residence
Rob Watson's reporter's diary
Security has also been massively beefed up in Canberra.
The Australian federal parliament building has been sealed off for Mr Bush's
address on Thursday - the first time in history that the public have been barred from
the building.
Police divers are securing bridges that span a lake close to the parliament and
Australian F/A-18 Hornet fighter jets with orders to shoot down any unauthorised
planes will patrol the city's skies.
It is only the second time armed air force jets have flown operationally over
Australia's mainland since World War II - the last time being when 54 Commonwealth
leaders attended a summit on the north-east coast.
Mr Bush will hold talks with staunch ally Prime Minister John Howard on Thursday
morning, ahead of his address to the joint parliamentary sitting.
But even with the public banned Mr Bush will not find himself free of protests -
some opposition MPs intend to wear white armbands to register their opposition to the
war in Iraq.
The MPs have also invited the wife of Mamdouh Habib, one of two Australians held
at the US military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to attend as part of the
protest.
The Mulindwas Communication Group
"With Yoweri Museveni, Uganda is in anarchy"
Groupe de communication Mulindwas
"avec Yoweri Museveni, l'Ouganda est dans l'anarchie"
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