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 04 July 2008 23:43 BST

Brown meets with Bush for talks at White House

Thursday, 17 Apr 2008 19:10
Gordon Brown met with George Bush last July
Prime minister Gordon Brown has met with United States president George Bush today.

The pair held a news conference on the lawn of the White House this evening where Mr Bush claimed it was a "pleasure to welcome a good friend to Oval Office".

The US president talked of the "special relationship with Britain" and praised Mr Brown's actions following the failed suicide-attacks in central London and Glasgow Airport last year.

Mr Bush told reporters that the pair had talked about the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts, praising the "brilliance of the British helicopter crews".

The pair also talked about climate change, development in Africa and the current situation in Iran, Zimbabwe and Darfur.

Mr Bush said that he appreciated "Gordon Brown's strong opinions on that issue", when referring to the ongoing election crisis in Zimbabwe.

He also claimed that the situation in Darfur needed to be resolved and said that the current UN mission was "not effective".

The president claimed that he had a "fabulous conversation" with Mr Brown and even jokingly offered to cook the prime minister and his wife a meal following the news conference.

In response, Mr Brown said that the world owed Mr Bush a "huge debt of gratitude" for his actions in fighting terrorism.

The prime minister was full of praise for the relationship between the two nations claiming that it would only grow stronger in the future.

Both leaders claimed they would also try and help resolve the current global economic crisis.

Earlier, Mr Brown met with all three of the candidates vying to replace Mr Bush, Democrats Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and the Republican candidate John McCann.

When asked whether he formed a "special bond" with any of the candidates the prime minister responded that it was "for America to decide who the next president is to be".

He added that he had been "delighted" to meet with the three candidates and was convinced the relationship between the two countries would remain strong.

Today's meeting is only the second time Mr Brown and Mr Bush have met on US soil.

They first met in July 2007, after Mr Brown took over from Tony Blair.

Some critics accused Mr Brown at the time of producing a distinctively lacklustre display, leading to questions being raised regarding his desire to work with the US and suggesting ties between the two countries may become weaker.

However, he told CBS News on Tuesday that he was "very pro-American".

"I'm very pro-American, and I've always been so. Ours is a very special relationship. I feel that American and Britain can achieve so much in the next few years," he said.

Mr Brown is expected to make a speech on foreign policy at the Kennedy Library in Boston on Friday before returning to London.End of story


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