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GLENEAGLES, Britain, July 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Leaders
attending the Group of Eight (G8) summit in Gleneagles, central Scotland, have
put back Thursday all announcements until Friday after a series of deadly blasts
in London temporarily disrupted talks.
At least 33 were killed and more than 700 injured when seven blasts took place in central
London on Thursday morning, coinciding the opening of the G8 summit this year.
In a joint-statement, leaders of the G8 and five
developing countries, China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa, said,
"Perpetrators of today's attacks will not succeed."
Leaders from these countries were standing side by
side while British Prime Minister Tony Blair was reading the statement.
"The bombing will not in any way limit our resolve to
uphold the mostly eagerly held principles of our societies and to defeat those
who impose that fanaticism and extremism on all of us," he read.
Talks then resumed in Blair's absence as he traveled
to London for police briefings.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw traveled from London to
Scotland to chair the talks until Blair returns sometime on Thursday night.
Straw was greeted by a joint declaration issued by
the so-called G5 developing countries who called for trade barriers to be
removed as part of the efforts to eradicate poverty.
"Trade distorting domestic support for agriculture in
developed countries must be substantially reduced and all forms of export
subsidies must be eliminated," the statement said.
The G5 also urged the G8 to take a lead in
international action to combat climate change, insisting there is an urgent need
to develop policies to help overcome "the inevitable adverse effects of climate
change on the poor".
The G8 nations agreed to full debt cancellation for
18 countries, while African countries call for debt relief for all Africa.
EU members have pledged to reach a collective aid
target of 0.56 percent of GDP by 2010, and 0.7 percent by 2015.
US President George W. Bush proposed doubling US aid
to Africa over the next five years to 4.8 billion US dollars.
No progress had been made on climate change yet, said
officials attending the meeting on Thursday.
Ahead of the attacks in London, Blair and Bush had
called for anew consensus on how to tackle climate change in a press briefing.
The two leaders said it was time to replace a focus
on Kyoto-style curbs on greenhouse gas emissions with research into clean
technology.
Bush said fast-developing nations must take a role,
and welcomed India and China's attendance at the G8.
"Now is the time to get beyond the Kyoto period and
develop a strategy forward that is inclusive of the developing nations," said
Bush.
Blair said there was "no point in going back over the
Kyoto debate" and it was preferable to "bring people back into consensus
together" on global warming.
With more than 10,000 police deployed, the summit is
at the center of one of the biggest security operations in the UK history.
Demonstrations and Live8 concerts during the last
week have sought to highlight the need for action on the issues of African aid,
trade and climate change.
After the climate change talks, the G8 leaders are to
discuss Middle East tensions, and hear from James Wolfensohn, the international
envoy on Israel's pull out from Gaza.
African aid and trade talks are scheduled to dominate
the talks on Friday. Enditem |