Terror Attacks Won't Stop US-UK Resolve, Leaders Say
By: Administrative Account | Source: CNSNews.com
November 20, 2003 12:01PM EST

By Mike Wendling
CNSNews.com London Bureau Chief
November 20, 2003

London (CNSNews.com) - Their meeting was partially overshadowed by deadly bomb blasts against U.K. interests in Turkey, but President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair appeared in front of the cameras in London on Thursday to discuss Iraq and other outstanding issues.

Both leaders condemned attacks against a British bank and the British consulate that killed at least 25 and injured hundreds.

"It should not lessen, incidentally, in any way at all, our commitment to Iraq," Blair said. "On the contrary, it shows how important it is to carry on until terrorism is defeated there as well."

"We stand absolutely firm until this job is done, done in Iraq, done elsewhere in the world," Blair added.

Bush said the terrorists behind the attack "hate freedom."

"They hate free nations," he said. "Today, once again we saw their ambitions of murder."

Referring to Saturday's attack in Istanbul in which most of the victims were Muslims, Bush said: "These are al Qaeda killers killing Muslims. They need to be stopped. And we will stop them."

Blair said the two leaders also discussed a recent World Trade Organization ruling against U.S. steel tariffs, the Middle East peace process and British citizens being held at Guantanamo Bay. They also agreed to create a special joint task force on HIV/AIDS.

The prime minister said no immediate announcement would be made on the British citizens being held as illegal combatants in Guantanamo Bay, but that negotiations were continuing. Two Britons have already been declared eligible for trial in front of military panels by U.S. officials.

"Either they will be tried by the military commission out there or they will be brought back here," Blair said. "It's not going to be resolved today, but it will be resolved at some point soon."

"We are sorting through them," Bush said. "There is a court procedure in place that will allow them to be tried in a fair fashion."

In response to a question about protests on London's streets, Bush said: "It's a fantastic thing to come to a country where people are able to express their views."

"I fully understand that people don't agree with war," he said. "I hope they agree with peace and freedom and liberty. I hope they care deeply about the fact that when we find suffering and torture and mass graves, we weep for the citizens that are being brutalized by tyrants."

Blair refuted the suggestion by reporter Nick Robinson of Britain's ITV news that military action in Iraq led to Thursday's attacks.

"What has caused the terrorist attack today in Turkey is not the President of the United States, is not the alliance between America and Britain - what is responsible for that terrorist attack is terrorism...the terrorists."

Earlier on Thursday, Bush met with the relatives of British troops killed in Iraq and laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. Talks with Blair will continue before a trip to the Prime Minister's home parliamentary district in northern England on Friday.

The largest protest march scheduled for the president's visit was scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Organizers predicted that up to 100,000 people would show up to see a makeshift statue of Bush pulled down in Trafalgar Square, an event designed to echo the toppling of a statue of Saddam Hussein in Baghdad earlier this year.

Email this Article

Printer Friendly Version