Bush, Chirac turn page on past tensions

US President George W. Bush (R) meets with French President Jacques Chirac Monday in Brussels. US President Bush is on a five-day trip to Belgium, Germany, and the Slovak Republic shoring up political relationships. PHOTO: AFP

Since his arrival here on Sunday on the first leg of a fence-mending trip in Europ, Bush has been trying hard to send a strong signal of his willingness to open a new chapter in ties with European partners, especially those which fiercely opposed the US-led war in Iraq.

Setting aside their bones of contention, Bush and Chirac, who are here to for dual Nato and US-EU summits on Tuesday, were determined to inject some detente into French-US relations at a dinner Monday.

For a little over two hours, the two leaders met in the US ambassador's residence here for what one official described as an "extremely cordial" meeting.

Even the menu was designed to appease past tensions, featuring French fries, or chips, which several US senators renamed freedom fries during the war in Iraq to protest French opposition to the US-led invasion.

"This is my first dinner since I've been re-elected on European soil, and it's with Jacques Chirac -- and that ought to say something. It ought to say how important this relationship is for me, personally, and how important this relationship is for my country," Bush said.

But although the two leaders were smiling as they met in Brussels, they were clearly not that relaxed.

Not once before the gathered journalists did Bush mention the war in Iraq, which soured ties two years ago and led to a deep transatlantic split.

Chirac however acknowledged the tensions, saying "Of course, we can have our differences, our divergence of opinion. Recently, this was the case. We didn't share the same view over Iraq.

"But this in no way affects, or in no way undermines, the bedrock of our relations, namely, our common values and our common vision."

Accused in the past of being deaf to criticism, Bush signaled his readiness to listen the French president views, saying: "Every time I meet with Jacques, he's got good advice."

"We've got a lot of issues to talk about: Middle Eastern peace, Lebanon, Iran, helping to feed the hungry," he added.