Bush heads for Nato summit after EU talks

US President George W Bush was on his way to Turkey for a major Nato summit tonight having won new backing from the EU for the rebuilding of Iraq.

Mr Bush claimed the “bitter differences” which divided Europe and America at the time of last year’s war were over, after attending a US-EU summit in Ireland.

The transatlantic allies struck a series of agreements at Dromoland Castle, County Clare as more than 4,000 police and 2,000 soldiers mounted the largest security operation in the history of the state.

“I think the bitter differences over the war are over,” said Mr Bush at the conclusion of the meeting.

“We all agree a democratic and peaceful Iraq, with its territorial integrity intact, is to all our benefit,” he added.

Mr Bush was expected to press for Nato to deploy troops in Iraq when he joins British Prime Minister Tony Blair and other world leaders in Istanbul for Monday’s summit.

The President made clear his hopes that the organisation would agree to a request from Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi for assistance in training an Iraqi security force before his airplane set off from Shannon Airport.

He said Nato had “the capability and responsibility to help the Iraqi people defeat the terrorist threat”.

“A free and democratic Iraq is rising in the heart of the Middle East,” said Mr Bush.

Europe and America were united in their determination to help the people of Iraq as sovereignty was returned to a homegrown government on June 30, he insisted.

“We will defeat the forces of terror and help to build a freer, safer and more prosperous world,” he went on.

Mr Bush said American troops would remain in Iraq as long as their presence was necessary.

“We will complete the mission,” he said.

“The sooner Iraqis take over their own security needs, the faster the mission will end.”

Mr Bush said he attempted to reassure Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and President Mary McAleese that the abuse of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq would be fully investigated.

“I was sick with what happened inside that prison and so were the American citizens,” he said.

“The actions of those troops did not reflect what we think.

“It did harm, it did harm because people in Ireland and elsewhere said this is not the America we know. This isn’t the America we believe exists.

“Both leaders of course brought the issue up and they should and I assured them we would deal with this in a transparent way which stands in stark contrast to how a tyrant would deal with it.”

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern had been criticised for allowing the summit to go ahead in Ireland after the conflict in Iraq.

Thousands of anti-war protesters marched at demonstrations throughout the country during the President’s visit in opposition to his foreign policy.

As the dust settled on the runway following the departure of Air Force One, protesters were rolling up their tents and the security operation, estimated to have cost up to €10m, was winding down.

Soldiers began dismantling the security fence around Dromoland Castle and the surrounding roads were reopened as gardaí removed checkpoints.

The hundreds of protesters who had gathered at separate sites on the Limerick to Ennis road joined forces for a final march to Shannon Airport, where they held a rally 100 yards from the airport entrance in front of a strong force of gardaí.

Earlier, protesters surrounded two armoured personnel carriers in the open countryside around Dromoland Castle and sprayed them with paint.

Terry Clancy of the Dublin Grassroots Network said: “It was peaceful and there was no problem from the police or from us.”

Mr Bush was accompanied on the trip by his wife Laura and an entourage including Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

The US President only spent 18 hours in Ireland before jetting off to Turkey.

Throughout the visit, four naval ships, Air Corps planes and specialist decontamination and bomb disposal teams were on high alert, to guard against a possible chemical or biological attack, but the only disturbance was the noise made by protesters.

Up to 700 armed US Secret Service personnel also accompanied Mr Bush on the trip, while riot police and water cannons, which were on standby, were not needed.

The Dromoland Summit was the first to take place between the US and the enlarged European Union of 25 Member States, and the first since the conclusion of negotiations on the EU Constitutional Treaty.

Mr Bush left Ireland shortly after 3pm to fly straight into another major security operation.

More than 23,000 police will be on duty during the Nato summit in Istanbul, which Mr Blair and French President Jacques Chirac – among others – are to attend.

Turkish police sealed off streets, searched cars and detonated suspicious packages yesterday as part of a massive security sweep in advance of the summit and a day after twin bombings killed four people in two cities.

The security situation in Istanbul has been of concern since last November, when four suicide truck bombings, blamed on groups linked to al-Qaida, killed more than 60 people.

Scores of people believed to be linked to radical groups have been detained in security sweeps in recent weeks.