Bush, Danish PM Rasmussen, meet in Crawford, Texas

Bush, Danish PM meet over issues of NATO, Afghanistan, Iraq

www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-01 10:07:57

WASHINGTON, Feb. 29 (Xinhua) --

U.S. President George W. Bush met with Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen for the first time at his Crawford ranch in Texas late Friday.

The two leaders focused on the transformation of NATO due to be discussed at a NATO summit in April, and issues of Afghanistan and Iraq, White House officials said. No details of the talks were immediately available.

Rasmussen's visit to the United States comes at a critical time when the Bush administration has been pressing NATO members to send more troops to Afghanistan and better coordinate non-military assistance.

Denmark, a U.S. ally, is helping with both security and reconstruction in Afghanistan, and has been involved in Iraqi security efforts since 2003. It has about 360 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led force, and about 500 soldiers supporting the U.S. commitment in Iraq.

The annual U.S.-led NATO summit is due to be held on April 2-4 in Bucharest, Romania.

Bush, who had talks with NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the White House earlier in the day, said that the Bucharest summit would touch on, among others, the NATO's role in newly independent Kosovo; possible NATO membership for Croatia, Albania and Macedonia; efforts to combat computer crime; and a U.S. missile shield plan that has angered Russia.

Rasmussen is to spend three nights at the Texas ranch. Bush is expected to invite him to go mountain biking at some point. They had pedaled around Camp David in 2006.

Editor: Yao Siyan

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