G8 hope set against evil backdrop

The hope contained in the communiqué issued after the G8 summit yesterday is in stark relief to the devastation and death visited on London by the terrorist bombs.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, flanked by the leaders of the industrialised nations, along with five African heads of state who attended the summit, appropriately described it as having "a pride and a hope and a humanity that can lift the shadow of terrorism".

That murderous shadow was cast over the English capital on Thursday with tragic consequences for more than 50 innocent people and 700 others who were injured.

Yet, the resilience of the people of that city defiantly restored more than a semblance of normality by yesterday in the face of the dreadful cowardly terrorist attacks.

Similarly, the G8 leaders were united in their resolve to conduct the summit as planned in Gleneagles despite the backdrop of evil which was perpetrated to disrupt the international gathering.

They did that and emerged with deals affecting Africa, climate change and the Middle East. Basically, they concurred an agreement which points to a deal on trade, access to Aids treatment, debt cancellation and

$3 billion for the Palestinian Authority to encourage the prospect of peace with Israel.

Development aid to Africa will be boosted by $50bn as part of a package to combat poverty, which takes a toll of 50,000 lives there every day.

While the communiqué was vague on the time frame in which that would be paid, that figure on an annual basis was referred to by the leaders prior to the summit, as well as a target year of 2010.

Neither was debt cancellation quantified but, similar to aid, ahead of the conference last month the G8 finance ministers had reached agreement on writing off about $40bn to 18 of the poorest nations, with the main beneficiaries in Africa.

Whether that result will keep campaigners against poverty on that continent happy remains to be seen but, coinciding with Bob Geldof's objective, it will have to be reciprocated with a commitment to democracy, good governance and the rule of law.

The package also includes a plan for a new peacekeeping force in Africa, but again African leaders will have to make pledges on the elimination of corruption.

On climate change, it would appear that the US is still hostile to a new Kyoto-style treaty and while there may not have been any progress, neither was there a retrograde step. A dialogue will commence next November when Britain will host a conference on global warming which will include growing industrial nations such as China, India, Mexico, Brazil and South Africa, as well as the G8 nations.

Those countries have hitherto been excluded from the United Nations' Kyoto treaty, which runs out in 2012, and which in any case had been boycotted by America on purely economic grounds.

Contentious as well will be attempts to forge a trade deal, especially one that will level the pitch, or make more level the pitch, for producers in disadvantaged countries.

It is probably more important than the issue of aid alone, but it would necessitate major reforms of the EU's CAP and American trade subventions.

So far, trade issues have resulted in four years of wrangling, centring on rich nations' readiness to drop agricultural subsidies so that poor countries can access their markets.

Prior to this week's G8 summit, US President George W Bush said he was prepared to drop American subsidies once the EU dropped CAP.

Whatever about the preparedness of individual leaders to move forward on any question, they will not lose sight of the impact on domestic issues.

The outcome of the G8 summit may not entirely satisfy campaigners, but there is no doubt that the Scotland conference achieved more thanits predecessors.

Realistically, the communiqué issued at the conclusion recognised that the global issues cannot be resolved overnight but what was decided gives the hope that, if implemented, some day they will.

Criticism will indeed be levelled at the agreement for what it failed to achievebut Mr Blair was correct when he said that it was not all that everyone wanted but it was progress real and achievable progress.

Although Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was seeking to reassure people yesterday when he said he did not believe Ireland was under serious threat of attack, it has to be cautioned that no country is inviolate from the fanaticism of terrorists.

He admitted that there are already al-Qaida sympathisers in the country being monitored by the gardaí, who attach huge significance to their presence here.

Consequently, no matter how unlikely an attack might appear to be, it would be folly to dismiss the possibility of such an eventuality. While Mr Ahern may repudiate the risk of that happening because of the use of Shannon International Airport by US troops, it could well be considered a reason to target an Irish city, or the facility itself, by a terrorist mentality.

He reflected the sympathy of this country when he averred that thoughts and prayers are with the people of London and those affected by the atrocities.