2A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 22, 2004 NATION/WORLD Chile relations in trouble after spat NEws INBRIEF 4 JLW6TP.JJL VUM ~AKUUN W5J) 1 U titWULW lE 4. v SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Presi- dent Bush tried to mend relations in Latin America with fresh promises of immigration reform yesterday, while a new security spat surfaced with Chile after an embarrassing fracas in which Bush intervened. What was supposed to have been an elaborate state dinner with 200 people yesterday was downgraded to an official working dinner, reportedly because Chil- ean President Ricardo Lagos balked at Secret Service demands for guests to walk through metal detectors. The guest list for the working dinner was pared down to the leaders, their wives and top aides. On Saturday night, Bush waded into a scuffle that erupted when Chil- ean authorities blocked the president's Secret Service agents from accompa- nying him into a dinner. As tempers flared and a shoving match ensued, Bush pushed into the commotion, grabbed his lead agent, Nick Trotta, and pulled him inside. The incident, shown repeatedly on television worldwide, was an unlikely episode in an otherwise staid gathering of 21 Pacific Rim leaders at the Asia- Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. In a moment of levity, the leaders posed in colorful, hand-woven ponchos - fol- lowing the summit tradition of wearing native garb of the host country. White House press secretary Scott McClellan, referring to the Saturday night scuffle, said, "The president is someone who tends to delegate but every now and then, he's a hands-on kind of guy." Bush, arriving at La Moneda palace, greeted Lagos with self-deprecating humor: "Ricardo, aqui esta el gringo." provide a path to citizenship. Fox hopes to persuade Bush to expand his plan. "One way to make sure the border is secure iswto have reasonable immigra- tion policies," the president said. He said he assured Fox that Mexicans should be treated with respect and dignity in the United States. Fox said he wanted to meet with Bush in Washington to discuss economic- security issues. "Mexico wants to fulfill its responsibility to make its economy grow, make it stronger, to have more jobs in Mexico," Fox said. "That is our first priority." Fox said afterward he expected to meet with Bush in Washington in February or March to discuss migration and trade. "Our friendship, our relationship is strong, it's a very optimistic one," Fox said. Asked whether Bush had promised to move the immigration legislation for- ward, Fox told CNN's "Late Edition:" "What I got, and very firmly, is his will, his will to attend this issue." Bush and Fox avoided talking about subjects where they differ, such as Iraq and Cuba, administration officials said. The U.S. reputation in Latin America has been hurt by the Iraq war, which is deeply unpopular in the region. There also is a feeling that the Bush administra- tion has neglected the needs of the West- ern Hemisphere, and there is friction over the U.S. push for open, freer economies, a campaign viewed by some as an unwel- come dictate from Washington. After the summit, Bush met briefly with Peruvian President Alejandro Tole- do to discuss an Andean free-trade pact involving Colombia, Peru and Ecuador in commerce with the United States. -:,.. AP PHOTO President Bush and his wife Laura arrive at the Estacion Mapocho Cultural Center at the APEC Summit Saturday in Santiago, Chile. To the right is the unidentified U.S. Secret Service Agent originally blocked from entering, Translation: "Ricardo, the gringo's here." The two-day summit ended with pledges to shore up global security, fight terrorism and push ahead with nego- tiations to lower trade barriers seen as impediments to economic growth. Bush opened the day with Mexi- can President Vicente Fox, discussing immigration issues that are sensitive on both sides of the border. Bush began his presidency with a campaign to improve relations with Mexico but his attention was diverted by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001._ Renewing a plan, which stalled in Congress after he unveiled it in Janu- ary, Bush urged changes in U.S. law that could allow millions of undocumented laborers to work legally in the United States on temporary visas but would not JERUSALEM Palestinians push Powell on W. Bank Palestinian leaders will urge Secretary of State Colin Powell to pressure Israel to withdraw troops from disputed areas in the West Bank before holding January elections to replace longtime leader Yasser Arafat, a senior official said Saturday. Underscoring the troubled security situation there, Israeli forces shot and killed two 15-year-old Palestinian boys throwing stones at Israeli jeeps in the West Bank city of Nablus, Palestinian hospital officials said. The Israeli army said it opened fire on two Palestinians who were shooting at them, but it did not know whether they had died. In other violence, soldiers shot a Palestinian man attempting to infiltrate the Israeli settlement of Netzarim in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian security officials said he was killed. Also, the Palestinians formally opened the campaign to replace Arafat, as can- didates began seeking signatures to qualify for the Jan. 9 ballot. Candidates have 12 days to submit their paperwork for the landmark election. In the run-up to Powell's visit, the Palestinian leadership will outline a sweeping agenda to return to peace talks in Sunday meetings with William Burns, the U.S. assistant secretary of state and the most senior American to visit the West Bank since Arafat's death Nov. 11. WASHINGTON Congress vows action on intelligence bill Unwilling to concede defeat, congressional leaders expressed hope yesterday that lawmakers could return next month to resolve a turf battle that has blocked pas- sage of an overhaul of the nation's intelligence agencies. Much depends on whether President Bush is more active in bringing his own troops in line, they said. "For us to do the bill in early December it will take significant involvement by the president and the vice president," said Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R- Tenn.). "It will take real focus on their part." During a chaotic Saturday that was intended as the final meeting of the 108th Congress, negotiators announced a compromise on the intelligence bill. Hours later, opposition from the Republican chairmen of two committees stymied the legislation, which would create a national intelligence director. Reflecting Pentagon concerns about the legislation, California Rep. Duncan Hunter of the House Armed Services warned that the bill could interfere with the military chain of command and endanger troops in the field. Wisconsin Rep. James Sensenbrenner of the House Judiciary Committee demanded that the bill deal with illegal immigration. BISMARCK, N.D. State sex offender laws stricter after abduction In the year since college student Dru Sjodin was abducted from a North Dakota parking lot and killed, allegedly by a convicted sex offender, the state has worked to make its sex offender laws among the strictest in the nation. Parole officer Brian Weigel's unit is new, part of the state's heightened enforce- ment since Sjodin's abduction a year ago today. The 22-year-old University of North Dakota student's body was found last spring in a ravine in Minnesota. The man charged with abducting Sjodin and killing her, Alfonso Rodriguez Jr., is a convicted sex offender who had been released from prison just six months before she disappeared. He has pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of kidnapping resulting in death. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. The case drew national attention as volunteers, National Guard soldiers and law enforcement officers searched the region for months looking for Sjodin. Her body wasn't found until after the snow melted. KIEV, Ukraine Tallies inconclusive in prime minister election Ukraine's prime minister was leading the nation's run-off presidential election according to partial vote tallies released today, but his Western-leaning challenges held the advantage in an exit poll funded partly by the United States. With 69 percent of precincts counted following yesterday's election, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych had 48.58 percent of the vote, compared with Viktor Yushchenko' 47.78 percent, the Central Election Commission said. About 2 percent voted against both candidates. But an exit poll conducted by anonymous questionnaires under a program fundec by several Western governments said Yushchenko had received 54 percent of the vote compared with the Kremlin-praised Yanukovych's 43 percent. A second exit poll, how- ever, showed Yushchenko's margin was much smaller at 49.4 percent to 45.9 percent the Interfax news agency reported. 0 $31 billion Iraqi debt forgiven by Paris Club PARIS (AP) - Major economic pow- ers agreed yesterday to write off more than $31 billion in debt for Iraq in a deal that boosted U.S. efforts to help put the Iraqi economy back on its feet. Under the agreement, the Paris Club of 19 creditor nations will write off 80 percent of the $38.9 billion that Iraq owes them, group chairman Jean-Pierre Jouyet said. The Paris Club includes the United States, Japan, Russia and Euro- pean nations. Iraq owes another $80 billion to various Arab governments. A clause in the agreement gives the Paris Club the option to suspend part of the debt reduc- tion if it were not matched by Iraq's other major creditors - led by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The United States had been pressing for up to 95 percent of the Paris Club debt to be lifted. Iraq has said its foreign debt was hindering postwar reconstruc- tion, already struggling amid the coun- try's persistent insurgency. Iraq's finance minister, Adel Abdul- Mahdi, hailed what he described as a "historic agreement." "This money is needed for Iraq not only because Iraq is a ruined country but because Iraq is an important play- er internationally," he said after the deal was signed in Paris. "What will happen in Iraq will affect politically and economically the Middle East and the world." The deal represented a considerable concession from France, just as French President Jacques Chirac's government is pushing to rebuild ties with the Bush administration that were damaged by disagreements over the U.S.-led Iraq war. France opposed the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. Treasury Secretary John Snow praised the deal as a major step in the rebuilding of Iraq. "This is a real milestone, and it shows the trans-Atlantic alliance remains a strong force for good in the world," Snow said during a meeting of finance officials in Berlin. Jouyet, at a news conference in Paris, said the debt reduction plan would work in three phases, with 30 percent of the debt being written off immediately. Another 30 percent will be canceled when Iraq agrees on a reform program with the International Monetary Fund expected in 2005. The third and final portion,representing 20 percent of Iraq's debt to the Paris Club, will be canceled in 2008, once Iraq has completed its three-year IMF program, Jouyet said. The Paris Club's chairman said the group had "shown its flexibility" over Iraq's reconstruction needs and its lim- ited ability to service its debt in the short term. "Iraq will be able to concentrate its entire resources on its reconstruction," he said. The deal was reached after Russia, the one country that still needed to sign off on the deal, gave its approval after talks that began Saturday and ended yesterday, officials said. Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said his country would be willing in principle to write off more than half of Iraq's $8 billion debt to Moscow through the Paris Club. France had long argued that slash- ing Iraq's Paris Club debt by more than half would be unfair to other poorer nations that also are saddled with debts but do not have the potential wealth of oil-rich Iraq. "How would you explain to these people that ... we are going to do more for Iraq than we have done in 10 years for the 37 poorest and most indebted countries in the world?" Chirac said in June at a summit of the Group of Eight powers that Bush hosted. 0 0 MENN www.michiganaauy.com The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is published Monday through Friday during the fall and winter terms by students at the University of Michigan. 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