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G8 Leaders Criticize North Korea, Iran, Urge Progress in Afghanistan

   Dan Robinson | Toronto 26 June 2010
   General view of a G8 summit working session at the Deerhurst Resort in
   Hunstville, Ontario, 26 Jun 2010

Photo: AFP

   General view of a G8 summit working session at the Deerhurst Resort in
   Hunstville, Ontario, 26 Jun 2010

   World  leaders  meeting  at  the  G8  summit  in  Canada  turned their
   attention  to  global  security  issues  as wrapped up business of the
   Group  of  Eight (G8) and transitioned to a larger summit of the G20.Â
   A final communique from the world's eight major industrial democracies
   condemns the sinking of a South Korean warship, blamed on North Korea,
   criticizes  criticizes  Iran  on human rights and the rule of law, and
   addresses the situation in Afghanistan.

   G8  leaders  condemn the sinking of the South Korean warship this past
   March  that  an  international  investigation  said was carried out by
   North Korea.
   They  call  on  Iran's  leaders  to respect rule of law and freedom of
   expression. On Afghanistan, the G8 presses the government of President
   Hamid  Karzai  to  demonstrate  tangible  progress  in  time for a key
   conference next month, that it is taking on greater responsibility for
   security.
   Addressing a key tension spot in the Middle East, the draft communique
   calls current tensions in Gaza "unsustainable.
   Canadian  Prime  Minister  Stephen  Harper also delivered this message
   where Iran and North Korea are concerned. "The governments of Iran and
   North   Korea  have  chosen  to  acquire  weapons  to  threaten  their
   neighbors," he said. "The world must see to it that what they spend on
   these weapons will not be the only cost that they incur."
   G8  leaders  now shift to Toronto for the larger G20 summit, including
   the  G8  nations - the U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Russia,
   Italy,  Japan - and major developing economic powers such as China and
   India.
   As  the  G20  got  underway,  Afghanistan was a key topic in President
   Obama's  first  face-to-face meeting with British Prime Minister David
   Cameron,  also likely to include discussion of the transition to a new
   U.S. And NATO commander, General David Petraeus.
   Before  the  G8  summit, the two leaders discussed shared strategy for
   Afghanistan  and Pakistan, and underscored what the White House called
   their firm commitment to the NATO mission in Afghanistan.
   After  comments  Mr. Cameron made to Sky Television that he would like
   to   see  British  troops  leave  Afghanistan  by  2015,  senior  U.S.
   administration   officials  said  the  U.S  remains  comfortable  with
   commitments  from allies in Afghanistan.  U.S. forces are supposed to
   begin a conditions-based draw down in July of 2011.
   On Iran, leaders discussed implementation of the U.N. Security Council
   resolution  imposing  significant new sanctions for Iran's defiance of
   international  demands  to  halt its uranium enrichment program, which
   western powers say is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon.
   President Obama's talks with China's President Hu Jintao are likely to
   cover,  in  addition  to Iran, Beijing's implementation its pre-summit
   decision  to  allow  its  currency  to  rise in value against the U.S.
   dollar.
   Asked  about  the  conclusions  of the G8 on economic issues, Canadian
   Prime  Minister  Harper  summarized  a  concern  he  said  all leaders
   shared:Â  the need to avoid a repeat of risks, and events, that led to
   the 2008 financial crisis. "We can't afford some particular event that
   would  cause  a  series  of  cascading events and a downward spiral of
   confidence in global markets," he said.
   Harper  said  he has never been at a G8 summit where leaders seemed to
   more  deeply  feel the necessity of common action and purpose and more
   fundamentally united in purpose.
   What  the wider G20 group will say about the global economy remains to
   be  seen,  though there have been indications of the direction a final
   communique may take when the summit concludes on Sunday.
   At  the  G8,   leaders  such  as  Germany's Angela Merkel underscored
   domestic  pressures  they  face  to  bring  down  deficits and control
   spending.   President  Obama emphasized the importance of maintaining
   durable  economic  growth,  and the risks of sharply reducing stimulus
   spending.

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