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Bush takes anti-terrorism push to Singapore, Bali
Singapore, Oct 21: US President George W Bush visited staunch terrorism-war ally Singapore today, a day before a highly symbolic stop in Bali, struck one year ago in what many view as the region`s own September 11th.
Singapore, Oct 21: US President George W Bush visited staunch terrorism-war ally Singapore today, a day before a highly symbolic stop in Bali, struck one year ago in
what many view as the region's own September 11th.
Security worries will confine the US leader to Bali international airport during the entire three-hour and 15 minute stay, which was anchored on meetings with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and prominent Islamic leaders.
The two leaders are slated to take two questions each during a lightning press availability, after which Bush streaks off to the Australian capital for a high-profile visit that includes a speech to a joint session of Parliament in Canberra. Bush's visit to the resort island of Bali comes just over one year after the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group bombed two nightclubs there, killing 202 people in the worst strikes since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Indonesia has deployed four F-16 fighter jets and sent seven warships to join US Navy craft on patrol during Bush's visit. Meanwhile, demonstrators protesting the us leader's policies burned an effigy of him dressed in the colors of the US flag. "I'm planning to get out alive, and I think the president is too," a senior administration official told reporters on being asked about security worries.
Concerns over terrorist threats have dogged Bush's whirlwind six-nation trip to Asia and Australia, which opened October 17 in Tokyo and took him to The Philippines and then to an Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok.
Bureau Report
The two leaders are slated to take two questions each during a lightning press availability, after which Bush streaks off to the Australian capital for a high-profile visit that includes a speech to a joint session of Parliament in Canberra. Bush's visit to the resort island of Bali comes just over one year after the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) terror group bombed two nightclubs there, killing 202 people in the worst strikes since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Indonesia has deployed four F-16 fighter jets and sent seven warships to join US Navy craft on patrol during Bush's visit. Meanwhile, demonstrators protesting the us leader's policies burned an effigy of him dressed in the colors of the US flag. "I'm planning to get out alive, and I think the president is too," a senior administration official told reporters on being asked about security worries.
Concerns over terrorist threats have dogged Bush's whirlwind six-nation trip to Asia and Australia, which opened October 17 in Tokyo and took him to The Philippines and then to an Asia-Pacific summit in Bangkok.
Bureau Report