Bush, Merkel discuss Iran's nuclear program
CRAWFORD, United States (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, huddled on his Texas ranch, worked Saturday on a common strategy to confront a defiant Iran over its suspect nuclear program.
The meeting on Bush's "Prairie Chapel" property came as an Israeli deputy prime minister, fresh from talks in the United States, warned that "the opportunity for a negotiated solution is diminishing" in the atomic dispute.
"The strategy for now is one of sanctions, of a united front of nations in that context, and the strategy of declaring without any doubt that all options are on the table," Deputy Prime Minister Shaul Mofaz told Israeli public radio.
Bush and Merkel were to take up what the White House called "tactical" differences on Iran at a summit also expected to cover the Middle East peace process, efforts to stabilize Afghanistan, and tensions with Russia.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was on the ranch -- an 850-hectare (1,600-acre) estate near this tiny Texas town -- to brief Merkel on her recent Middle East visit.
The talks were also expected to cover the future of Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province, unrest in Myanmar, and Lebanon's political crisis.
On Friday, the German chancellor joined an elite group of world leaders invited to the property, a diplomatic plum never offered to her predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder, whose opposition to the Iraq war chilled ties with Bush.
"In Texas, when you invite somebody to your home, it's an expression of warmth and respect. And that's how I feel about Chancellor Merkel," said Bush, who added he hoped Merkel's stay would also be "a chance to relax and visit."
The chancellor thanked Bush for the invitation after the helicopter ride that brought to the ranch, saying "a first glance of the area shows us that this is indeed a wonderful place to be in, a wonderful atmosphere."
Ahead of the talks, US officials downplayed fissures between the allies on the US hard line toward Iran and Germany's restrictions on its troops in Afghanistan but also warned against expecting any breakthroughs.
"Strategically we see eye-to-eye. I think tactically there are some slight differences," said US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.
Bush was to seek to soothe concerns that recent warlike rhetoric and a fresh round of US sanctions on Iran, which denies Western charges that it seeks nuclear weapons, mean that Washington is turning its back on diplomacy.
Merkel, who leads Iran's largest European trading partner, has said Germany would embrace "further, tougher sanctions" if ongoing talks fail to convince Iran to heed UN demands to freeze sensitive nuclear work.
Washington has been leading a push for an immediate third wave of UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic which has defied UN demands to suspend uranium enrichment, a possible step towards building nuclear weapons.
On Afghanistan, Johndroe flatly refused to repeat past US jibes at NATO partner Germany for refusing to allow its troops to deploy in the dangerous part of southern Afghanistan to fight the Taliban insurgency.
Bush was also expected to take Merkel on a tour.
Saturday's lunch menu included cheeseburgers, potato and black-eyed pea salads, Texas farm cheeses, fresh fruit, chocolate chip pecan cookies and toffee-almond brownies.
Merkel's visit capped a busy diplomatic week for Bush, who hosted Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan for tense talks about Iraq and welcomed French President Nicolas Sarkozy to the White House for a charm campaign.
Bush is known to have a soft spot for Merkel, who took office in November 2005, and even relished a down-home barbecue of wild boar with her in her electoral district on July 2006.
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