News from Friday 22 March to 23 March 2002
President Bush to Hold Talks With Peru's Toledo
VOA News 23
Mar 2002 21:56 UTC

President Bush
is due to meet with his Peruvian counterpart, Alejandro Toledo, later Saturday
in Lima for talks amidst heightened security following a deadly bombing earlier
in the week.
Bright sunlight
greeted the U.S. president and first lady, as they left Air Force One after
arriving Saturday in Peru to begin a new chapter in U.S.-Peruvian relations, as
Mr. Bush becomes the first sitting U.S. president to visit the
country.
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| AP |
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| Anti-Bush protester in Lima |
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Mr. Bush and
Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo embraced each other warmly during a brief
arrival ceremony. The two leaders have scheduled a joint news conference later
tonight. More than 20,000 Peruvian police are on the highest state of alert
during Mr. Bush's 17-hour visit. Sharpshooters are on rooftops and airspace
over the capital has been restricted. Mr. Toledo says any unauthorized aircraft
will be shot down.
Demonstrators
rallied in the capital, burning a U.S. flag and shouting anti-U.S. slogans.
Police used tear gas to break up the crowds. No injuries were
reported.
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| AP |
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| Policeman at scene of car bomb explosion in front of U.S. embassy in
Lima |
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Several small
devices also exploded in Lima shortly before President Bush's
arrival.
On Wednesday, a
bombing in the capital near the U.S. Embassy killed nine people. President
Toledo has offered a $1 million award for information leading to the arrest of
those responsible.
Investigators
are considering whether Colombia's main leftist rebel group - the Revolutionary
Armed Forces of Colombia - may have been behind the attack. During the visit,
Mr. Bush is scheduled to meet with Mr. Toleldo and leaders from Bolivia,
Colombia and Ecuador for talks on expanding free trade and anti-narcotics
efforts. Mr. Bush heads to El Salvador Sunday.
In his weekly
radio address Saturday, President Bush said the United States is strongly
committed to helping build a hemisphere that "lives in liberty and trades in
freedom."
The president
traveled to Peru from a U.N.-sponsored development summit in Monterrey, Mexico,
where he urged wealthy countries to demand political reform from poor nations
in exchange for increased aid.
Some information
for this report provided by AP and Reuters.
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