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Bush to attend Olympic ceremony | Bush to attend Olympic ceremony |
(about 9 hours later) | |
US President George W Bush will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, the White House says. | US President George W Bush will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, the White House says. |
Human rights groups and opposition politicians including presidential hopeful Barack Obama had urged Mr Bush to consider boycotting the ceremony. | Human rights groups and opposition politicians including presidential hopeful Barack Obama had urged Mr Bush to consider boycotting the ceremony. |
Beijing's rights record has come under intense scrutiny since Tibetan protests were suppressed in March. | Beijing's rights record has come under intense scrutiny since Tibetan protests were suppressed in March. |
Troops used force to quell the biggest anti-China demonstrations in Tibetan communities for two decades. | |
Beijing says rioters killed about 20 people in the unrest, but exiled Tibetan groups accuse security forces of killing scores of protesters. | |
'Supporting athletes' | |
The decision by the US president comes as a key symbolic victory for China and will please leaders and Olympic organisers there, says the BBC's James Reynolds in Beijing. | |
Some world leaders are missing the 8 August opening ceremony. | |
Neither Britain's Gordon Brown nor Germany's Angela Merkel will be there. French President Nicolas Sarkozy says his attendance depends on progress in dialogue between Beijing and the Tibetan government-in-exile. | |
While it was understood that Mr Bush would go to the Games, no firm plans for the opening had been revealed. | |
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino announced the US president's decision in a statement. | |
"He believes he's going to China to support first and foremost our athletes. He sees this as a sporting competition," she said. | |
Mr Bush and his wife, Laura, will meet Chinese President Hu Jintao as part of their visit to China, and also visit South Korea and Thailand, the White House said. | |
The US announcement comes days after senior envoys of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, held a second round of talks with a Chinese official in Beijing. | |
The outcome of the discussions has not been revealed. |