This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/6666859.stm
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Bush and Blair reaffirm alliance | Bush and Blair reaffirm alliance |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| Tony Blair and George W Bush have reasserted the strong links between the United States and Britain. | Tony Blair and George W Bush have reasserted the strong links between the United States and Britain. |
| The British prime minister is on a final trip to Washington before stepping down at the end of June. | The British prime minister is on a final trip to Washington before stepping down at the end of June. |
| The two leaders have been close allies over the past six years, and praised each other's record. | The two leaders have been close allies over the past six years, and praised each other's record. |
| Mr Bush called the British PM "a clear, strategic thinker". Mr Blair said the US president had been "unyielding, unflinching and determined". | Mr Bush called the British PM "a clear, strategic thinker". Mr Blair said the US president had been "unyielding, unflinching and determined". |
| Mr Bush opened a good-humoured press conference with a joke at his own expense. | |
| Mr Blair, he said, "is a good friend. He has led the British people for a long time, since 1797". | |
| The deliberate slip echoed his mistake when introducing Britain's Queen Elizabeth II earlier this month, in which he said she had previously visited in 1776. | |
| The president said the two men had held detailed talks on a number of issues, and held a video conference with commanders in Iraq. | |
| He said both men were "frustrated at the inability of the international community to act with consequence in Darfur", and that they "spent a lot of time on climate change", which he described as "a serious issue". | |
| Mr Bush also offered to sing a Happy Birthday duet with Mr Blair to a reporter. She declined the offer. |