Agenda for world leaders

12 April 2012

Three issues dominate the summit of the world's richest nations:

The twin problems of international terrorism and the intractable and bloody crisis in the Middle-East. President George Bush will be looking for support from his fellow leaders for an ever tougher stance against "rogue states" giving aid and comfort to al Qaeda and its allies. Behind the rhetoric lies concern among the other leaders that America could plunge too far and too fast to play military hardball, particularly against Saddam Hussein's Iraq. There are tensions, too, over the Middle East, where Mr Bush appears alone in his demand that Yasser Arafat be replaced before there can be any peace settlement with Israel. All the rest appear to agree with Tony Blair that it is for the Palestinians to elect their leader.

The leaders may now also have to take time to look at the threat to the global economy as stock markets around the world nosedive.

The immediate crisis issues threaten to overshadow one of the original summit aims, close to Mr Blair's heart, to provide large-scale aid to Africa. The summit is scheduled to discuss a pioneering deal which would funnel unprecedented amounts of aid, trade and investment to the continent in return for action by African leaders to improve democracy and the rule of law and crack down on corruption. Several of Africa's leaders are attending the summit but here, too, there are fears that President Bush will take a lot of persuading that pouring billions of dollars into the continent will not prove to be money down the drain.

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