Bush on Sunday flies to Portugal to meet with Blair and Asnar

US President George Bush flies on Sunday to the Azore Islands in Portugal to hold an emergency meeting on Iraq with the Prime Ministers of Great Britain and Spain Tony Blair and Jose Marias Ainar. This was announced to reporters in Washington by the press secretary of the White House Ari Fleisher.

According to him, the meeting will discuss the prospects for solving the situation around Iraq peacefully. The leaders of the three states "will give diplomacy the latest opportunity to advance a resolution at the UN," said Fleisher.

The White House also announced that at 18:00 George Bush, along with US Secretary of State Paulle, will hold a press conference.

On Friday, the representative of the British Foreign Ministry said that an emergency summit with the participation of the leaders of the USA, Great Britain and Spain will take place in the coming days.

According to the British media, today, in connection with the upcoming summit, a telephone conversation of British Prime Minister Tony Blair with France President Jacques Shirak took place.

Earlier it was reported that the White House is preparing an urgent trip to US President George Bush to one of the European countries. Such a trip could take place this weekend, but her plans have not yet been agreed.

Earlier on Thursday, in New York, the UN Secretary General COVINNAN did not exclude the conduct of the emergency summit of world leaders in connection with the situation in the UN Security Council for Iraq. In addition, the presidents of France and Brazil spoke of such an opportunity.

Lazhesh base in the Azores is chosen for security reasons

The choice of the Lazhesh base on the island of Tersira (Azores) is explained by the fact that it is possible to create optimal conditions for the safety of the US president and prime ministers of Great Britain and Spain on March 16. This was announced by the representative of the Portuguese Ministry of Defense with the information agency "Luza".

The United States has repeatedly used this base to transfer its troops and aviation to the Persian Gulf zone. Recently, American refueling aircraft and Air Force attack aircraft were constantly deployed on it. Portugal gave official consent to the use of Lazhesh Washington in the event of a decision on the beginning of hostilities in Iraq.

The meeting will also be attended by Portugal Prime Minister Durau Barrosa. This information was confirmed by the press service of the head of the Portuguese government. Until the end of today, the Portuguese government intends to release a special communique about the upcoming summit, RIA Novosti reports.

Representatives of the Left Opposition in Portugal have already spoke on this issue, saying that the choice of the venue for the meeting of the Azores "indicates that Portugal is increasingly linening the Pentagon’s military plans against Iraq."

The Portuguese radio station of the TSF said on Friday that a "high -ranking representative of Bulgaria" could also take part in the meeting. However, this information in the press service of the head of government did not confirm.