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British press gives Blair 'shopping list' for White House visit
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  • LONDON (AFP) Nov 11, 2004
    Britain's newspapers on Thursday sent Prime Minister Tony Blair off to the White House with a political "shopping list" to present to US President George W. Bush.

    The Middle Eastern peace process is likely to top Blair's list, The Daily Telegraph said, given his repeated pledge over the past year and a half to try to rescue the region from four years of grinding violence.

    "Having frequently called Mr. Blair in aid against accusations of unilateralism during the election campaign, Mr. Bush is unlikely to leave his guest empty-handed," it predicted.

    "What should be on Blair's shopping list" is also a US commitment to improve its ties with the European Union, the Telegraph said.

    Given the prime minister's attachment to both transatlantic and EU alliances, he "is ideally suited" for the challenge, the best-selling broadsheet concluded.

    Blair, Bush's top Iraq war ally, leaves Thursday for Washington where he has been given the special honorary spot of being the first foreign leader to visit since the president's reelection on November 2.

    He is under crushing pressure to use the trip to reap the rewards for his support of the US-led war, which is deeply unpopular in Britain and within Blair's own Labour Party, and disprove claims that he is a lackey for Washington without significant political influence.

    "Mr. Blair cannot afford to get it wrong this time," the left-leaning Guardian said, citing his weakened stance at home since the 2003 Iraq invasion.

    "Realistically, though, it may be difficult for him to come away from the White House with the kind of diplomatic trophy that would not only ease the situation in the Middle East, but also make his domestic political life easier," it wrote.

    The paper said Blair "must be particularly careful not to delude himself, or us, as he sometimes has in the past, that things have gone better than they really have."

    But ultimately it was the United States which was in for a "real test", it wrote, as Europe assesses whether the White House is heading toward further unilateralism or a newfound engagement with the world.

    The Times was more hopeful about future US engagement on the Middle East, noting that would be the main topic at the Bush-Blair summit Friday.

    "Presidents in their second term have historically had more scope to innovate in the Middle East," it said.

    It, too, said Blair' could serve as a "bridge" between Europe and the United States, and stressed it was important to get Bush to reward the Central and Eastern European states which have given him support.

    For The Independent, Blair must focus on climate change and the environment at the talks, in light of a recent wave of dire scientific forecasts of rapid global warming.

    "Climate change and US opposition to Kyoto are issues the prime minister must raise when he meets Mr. Bush in Washington," it said, referring to the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

    "The point of a close alliance... is not only to discuss issues where there is, or could be, agreement, but to present the argument when the differences are principled and acute -- as they are on Kyoto," it said.

    On Wednesday, Blair faced a taunt in parliament that he was a US stooge loyally supporting the US actions in Iraq without in return receiving backing for his ideas on the Middle East problem and climate change.

    Many observers have speculated that fresh opportunities could emerge with the absence of the now critically ill Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat -- whom the United States and Israel stopped dealing with several years ago as a peace partner.




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