Blasts Overshadow Business at G-8 Conference

The London bombings created a crisis atmosphere Thursday at the Group of 8 summit, where leaders of the world’s major industrial nations gamely sought to resolve remaining differences over climate change and other global challenges.

The attacks occurred far from the rolling hills of Perthshire, Scotland, the bucolic site of the three-day summit, but their reverberations were strong enough to slow efforts to forge agreements before the scheduled close of business this afternoon.

On at least one issue, however, the tragedy had a galvanizing effect: The eight leaders issued a joint declaration denouncing the bombing perpetrators and expressing solidarity with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the conference host.

“We condemn utterly these barbaric attacks,” the members said in a statement endorsed by the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States. It was also signed by representatives of Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, who were attending the sessions to discuss potential areas of collaboration.

“We will not allow violence to change our societies or our values,” the signers said. “Nor will we allow it to stop the work of this summit. We will continue our deliberations in the interests of a better world.”

The show of resolve and sense of outrage were mirrored in statements and comments by individual members, including President Bush, who said news accounts of the carnage were particularly disturbing.

“The contrast between what we’ve seen on the TV screens here, what’s taking place in London and what’s taking place here, is incredibly vivid to me,” Bush said. “On the one hand, you’ve got people here who are working to alleviate poverty, to help rid the world of the pandemic of AIDS, and working on ways to have a clean environment. On the other hand, you’ve got people killing innocent people.”

Officials at the summit said Blair informed the other G-8 leaders of the attacks as they were preparing to convene a 10 a.m. meeting to discuss climate change and energy consumption.

“Mr. Blair came in and sat down and gave us the information he had at that time,” Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin said. “Then we went on the agenda. We were not going to show that the terrorists could manipulate the agenda.”

The session was temporarily suspended so leaders could consult with their governments about the attacks. Bush returned to his hotel suite, where he was briefed by advisors. He then conducted a videoconference with Homeland Security and national security officials in Washington.

“The president wanted to make sure that all appropriate agencies were responding,” said White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. “He wanted to make sure that appropriate agencies were acting and taking any necessary precautions.”

The group meeting resumed shortly after noon, McClellan said.

Later in the day, a planned group photo shoot was canceled because Blair had flown by helicopter to London to oversee his government’s initial response to the attacks.

The summit schedule was otherwise unchanged, officials said, and Blair returned to Gleneagles late Thursday.

Still, G-8 and U.S. officials acknowledged privately that the bombings had made it difficult to stay focused on the nuances of proposed communiques articulating consensus views on poverty in Africa, greenhouse gas emissions, rising energy consumption, trade barriers and other global challenges.

Yet some suggested that the attacks had increased the odds of resolving remaining differences on climate change and other unsettled issues before the summit ended today.

As host, Blair had placed two issues atop the agenda: increasing international aid to Africa and renewing efforts to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other pollutants believed to contribute to the gradual warming of Earth’s atmosphere.

Blair was unable to persuade Bush to reconsider his opposition to the kind of mandatory limits contained in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which the administration refused to sign because of concerns about its potential effect on the U.S. economy.

But Blair and other G-8 members appeared to be making headway in a campaign to persuade the Bush administration to embrace a climate change “action plan” that strongly affirms the connection between global warming and pollution caused by humans.

French President Jacques Chirac told reporters late Thursday that Bush was showing more flexibility on the issue. White House officials declined to discuss whether the American president’s views had changed as a result of the bombings.

Deputy national security advisor Faryar Shirzad, the president’s principal emissary in the G-8 negotiations and a participant in Thursday’s meetings, said the bombings had delayed the completion of some draft communiques. But he said the attacks had improved the prospects of successfully completing the summit.

“What I saw was a group of leaders that had a renewed sense of purpose in terms of advancing the common good,” Shirzad said. “I’m hopeful the results we’ll see will underscore that commitment.”