Bush, Blair Meet Before EU, NATO Talks

22 February 2005 -- U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair today said after a breakfast meeting in Brussels that elections in Iraq last month demonstrate the war-torn country is on the right path forward.
Bush said that "the Iraqis have defied the terrorists" and have shown the world they want to live in a free society.

Blair, a strong ally for the Iraq war, said differences caused by the war are now over.

"Whatever the differences in the international community have been over the past couple of years, I think we have a really solid basis now for going forward in a unified way," Blair said.

On the Middle East, Blair said he sees "every possibility now" of attaining a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

Bush later traveled to NATO headquarters for a brief meeting with Ukraine's President Viktor Yushchenko and a summit of the alliance's 26 member states. Bush is later due to meet European Union leaders.

(AP/AFP/Reuters)


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