Bush Sets Pace on Terrorism, AIDS; Chirac Raises Disease Funds; Putin Seen as 'Good Friend'

Byline: Joseph Curl, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

EVIAN, France - President Bush yesterday continued to set down a hard line on U.S. policy and win agreement on his demands that European leaders commit more fully to fighting global problems from terrorism to AIDS.

Despite predictions before the weeklong trip that the president would adopt a conciliatory tone with leaders who opposed the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Mr. Bush used his first stop in Krakow, Poland, to challenge Europe to follow America's lead in seeking solutions to the world's most vexing issues, including weapons proliferation and famine.

"He laid out a very ambitious agenda for all of us, from which we can proceed in making the world safer and better," a senior Bush administration official said yesterday aboard Air Force One en route to the annual meeting of the world's wealthiest nations.

Though no minds were changed on the Iraq war, Mr. Bush as well as European leaders who opposed the attack on Saddam Hussein's regime seemed ready to move on to other issues.

French President Jacques Chirac, Europe's most …

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Publication information: Article title: Bush Sets Pace on Terrorism, AIDS; Chirac Raises Disease Funds; Putin Seen as 'Good Friend'. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: June 2, 2003. Page number: A01. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group.

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