Bush, Blair plan two-day meeting

WASHINGTON (AP) — British Prime Minister Tony Blair will visit President George W Bush this week, giving the two allied leaders a chance to plot strategy in the war with Iraq and plan for its aftermath.

Blair will arrive tomorrow and the two leaders will go to Bush’s presidential retreat at Camp David to continue their talks Thursday, a diplomatic source and administration officials told The Associated Press.

Of late, Blair’s popularity in Britain appears to be rising, as has Bush’s as US and British troops advance toward Baghdad.

The president and the prime minister joined forces against a strong anti-war bloc in the United Nations, led by France and including Russia and Germany. The rift has created strains in the UN and NATO, a topic likely to be on the two leaders’ agenda.

Postwar Iraq is another likely topic. Blair favors a strong U.N. role in authorising a post-Saddam government in Baghdad. But France and Russia appear determined to block the move.

Russia denies selling military equipment to Iraq

MOSCOW (AP) — From Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on down, Russian officials yesterday hotly denied US accusations of illicit sales of military equipment to Iraq, and analysts suggested the accusations were an attempt to discredit Russia, after the Kremlin failed to support a military strike on Iraq.

The allegations that Russian companies sent anti-tank guided missiles, night-vision goggles and jamming devices to Iraq, in violation of UN sanctions, were the latest accusation that Moscow has leaked sensitive technology to US enemies in spite of pledges to tighten its export controls.

US President George Bush raised the issue with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call yesterday, White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said.

“We did not send any goods, including military ones, that violated the sanctions,” Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told reporters.

He said that beginning in October, the US had requested reports on the alleged illicit sales several times and that Russia had made its most recent report on March 18.

“No fact supporting the Americans’ anxiety has been found,” Ivanov said.

But in Washington, Fleischer said, “The US has credible evidence that Russian companies have provided assistance and prohibited hardware to the Iraqi regime.” He said intelligence reports indicated ongoing cooperation between a Russian company producing jamming equipment and the Iraqi military.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, who discussed the issue with Ivanov, told Fox that the hardware in question was “the kind of equipment that will put our men and women in harm’s way.”

France asks audio-visual media to heed rules on war prisoners

PARIS (AP) — France’s television watchdog summoned the Paris representative of Arab satellite station Al-Jazeera yesterday for broadcasting images of prisoners of war, then called on French TV stations to meet international guidelines in showing such footage.

The High Audio visual Council said it was contacting European Union colleagues in an effort to reach a common position on the issue.

Al-Jazeera’s Paris representative, Michel Kik, was summoned by the watchdog for showing footage of five US soldiers captured by Iraq.

No sanctions were levied, and Al-Jazeera’s name was not cited in a later council statement calling on audiovisual media to be careful in what they show.

“France considers that this channel did not respect the Geneva Convention on political prisoners,” said a press officer at the council, adding that the summons “was not a sanction. It was an explanation.” The press officer asked not to be named.

Under the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war cannot be identifiable or quoted. Such rules help preserve their dignity and ensure their safety.

The council asked audio-visual media to ensure that prisoners cannot be identified and that their words are not broadcast.

Al-Jazeera’s Kik said he stressed with council officials that the source of the footage in question was Iraqi television, and that Al-Jazeera was not alone. French channels also showed images of the five captured US soldiers, Kik said.

In the Iraqi television film carried by Al-Jazeera, the soldiers responded to questions. Some US networks showed snippets, or stills, of the soldiers.

The war in Iraq has also prompted France’s government to speed up plans to promote a French international news channel similar to CNN.