President Bush Responds to London Attacks

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President Bush's first working session with G-8 leaders in Gleneagles, Scotland was cut short 15 minutes before its scheduled 11:30 am finish. British Prime Minister Tony Blair informed his counterparts of the attacks as they gathered. Bush asked Stephen Hadley, who was with the White House staff on another floor, to brief him. Shortly thereafter, Bush returned to his suite area, where the White House had set up its communications hub and secure video center. The President vowed not to cut his trip short, and made sure aides had alerted all the proper personnel in Washington. Bush and Blair spoke before the English Prime Minister made a public statement and left for London. The day's public G-8 events were suspended at about 1:35 pm, although the leaders are still proceeding.

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President Bush emerged from a crowd of world leaders, who had gathered on the fine, fairway-grade lawn 100 yards from the Gleneagles Hotel's main entrance. Bush strode out alone along a gravel path to the media pool and addressed reporters. "The contrast between what we've seen on the TV screens here, what's taken place in London and what's taking place here is incredibly vivid to me," Bush said. "On the one hand, we have people here who are working to alleviate poverty, to help rid the world of the pandemic of AIDS, working on ways to have a clean environment. And on the other hand, you've got people killing innocent people. And the contrast couldn't be clearer between the intentions and the hearts of those of us who care deeply about human rights and human liberty, and those who kill... The war on terror goes on." Bush said he had been in contact with U.S. homeland security officials, and asked them to coordinate closely with local and state law enforcement.

Security at the G-8 meeting, already tight, is getting tighter. A press pool led by Secret Service agents—all running at top speed from the media tent to the leaders' meeting place—was denied entrance at two different gates guarded by U.K. police. As if ripped from the British comedy playbook, two yellow-jacketed police guards watched as the American press darted past them, cameras, video recorders and notebooks in tow. One remarked to the other in an amused tone "Best charge I've seen all day." At the third entrance, where we were finally let in, the pool had to halt for about two minutes until plain-clothes police officers arrived to escort the group into the grounds.