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March 24, 2009

Australian PM to Visit White House
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=231A78A:A6F02AD83191E1609DE7DE6523A723EBF47489ACC27D21EE&
 
Kevin Rudd's visit comes as Australians say they oppose any Australian
troop increase in Afghanistan 
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd visits the White House Tuesday to
discuss progress in Afghanistan with U.S. President Barack Obama. The
summit comes as Australians say they oppose any Australian troop
increase in Afghanistan. Australian voters who responded to an opinion
poll published in Tuesday's edition of "The Australian" newspaper
overwhelmingly rejected adding to the 1,100 troops already in
Afghanistan. The poll results follow the deaths of two Australian
soldiers last week in Afghanistan, bringing Australia's losses there to
10.Mr. Rudd has declined to say if he would agree to a U.S. request to
send more troops. The Australian prime minister is also scheduled to
meet Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The White
House recently said Mr. Obama looks forward to discussing with Mr. Rudd
critical global issues, including the financial crisis, Afghanistan,
climate change and nuclear non-proliferation. Mr. Rudd said Sunday that
he will push for China to have a greater role in the International
Monetary Fund at next month's G-20 summit in London. Mr. Rudd said he
will discuss the proposal during this week's talks with the U.S.
president. The Australian leader will attend the summit after his stop
in the United States.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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