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LONDON, England (AP) -- Prime Minister Tony Blair said in an interview Friday that U.S. President George W. Bush wanted to use his second term in office to heal the rift with Europe over the Iraq war.
Blair told The Times newspaper he had spoken with Bush on Saturday, and gained a sense he wanted to build bridges with Europe.
"There was a real sense that in the second term the president has space and energy to develop an agenda that I hope can unify Europe and America. That means reaching out on both sides," Blair was quoted as saying.
"I think he does want to do it, yes. He will say it in his own way and in his own time."
The U.S.-led war in Iraq caused deep divisions between Washington and European nations that opposed the war, notably France and Germany. Blair said some people were in a "state of denial" about Bush's victory over Democratic nominee John Kerry.
"The election has happened, America has spoken, the rest of the world should listen," he said, but added: "It is important that America listens to the rest of the world too."
Blair views Britain as an important diplomatic bridge between America and mainland Europe. The strong Anglo-U.S. relationship meant Britain was uniquely placed in Europe to find the "common ground upon which we can agree."
"There will be areas where we cannot, and climate change may end up being one of them," he said, referring to Bush's refusal to sign the Kyoto protocol on global warming. "But there are a lot upon which we can agree and it is important so far as possible that Europe and America do agree."
Analysts were divided on whether Bush's re-election was a political boon or bane for Blair.
Some commentators said Blair was probably deeply relieved by the result as victory for Kerry -- who described the Iraq conflict as "the wrong war in the wrong place at the wrong time" -- would have left the prime minister dangerously isolated.
But others say Bush's re-election poses a headache for Blair, whose unswerving loyalty to the right-wing Republican has angered many Britons.
Their friendship is deeply unpopular with left-wing sections of the governing Labour Party, and many of Blair's own lawmakers believe he is Washington's poodle, following U.S. foreign policy without exerting real influence.
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell conceded that Bush's re-election had caused "great disappointment" in the Labour Party.
"There's obviously great disappointment among Labour Party members that John Kerry didn't make it, and I think there were great hopes at the end that the Republican president would be replaced by a Democrat president," she said, in an interview with GMTV's Sunday Program, according to a transcript released in advance of it being screened.
But she said that the American people had made their choice, and it was now time for Blair to put his "very strong alliance" with Bush to "its best possible use."
The newspaper said Blair went to bed at 2230GMT on Tuesday, well before the polls closed in the presidential race, believing that Kerry had won, and got up at 0530GMT realizing victory was imminent for Bush.http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/e...h.ap/index.html |
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