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/americas/6933063.stm

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Bush hails Afghanistan 'progress' No deal on Korean hostages - Bush
(29 minutes later)
US President George W Bush has told Afghan leader Hamid Karzai that he is proud to call him an ally, in a joint news conference near Washington. US President George W Bush and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai have agreed not to bargain with the Taleban over South Korean hostages, the White House said.
Mr Bush said 5m children - a third of them girls - were now going to school, while 340,000 Afghan people a month were receiving healthcare. A US presidential spokesman said there would be no "quid pro quo" over the 21 captives, after a news conference near Washington between the two leaders.
Thanking the US, Mr Karzai said 85,000 children aged under five were alive thanks to healthcare improvements. Two South Koreans from the abducted group have been killed by the Taleban, who demand a prisoner swap.
Mr Bush said: "Progress is being made, Mr President, and we're proud of you." The Korean hostages were seized on 19 July from a bus in Ghazni province.
Afghan security is the key issue in the leaders' two-day meeting, as well as the booming trade in illegal drugs, the resurgent Taleban and civilian killings. Following talks at Camp David, Maryland, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "Both leaders agreed that in negotiations for the release, there should be no quid pro quo for the hostages.
"The Taleban are brutal and should not be emboldened by this."
A man who claims to speak for the Taleban had earlier told the BBC that the hostages' fate was in the two leaders' hands.
"We know that Karzai and Bush will discuss this. If the exchange doesn't take place the responsibility of the hostages will be that of Karzai and Bush," Qari Yousaf said.
A demonstrator in Seoul protests against US policy in AfghanistanHe also told the BBC the Taleban would continue its kidnapping policy whether or not there was an exchange.
In Seoul, a South Korean presidential spokesman said the government wanted to "work separately" from the Bush-Karzai summit to resolve the issue.
"It is inappropriate to have any premature expectations or to overly interpret the summit," he said.
About 100 protesters rallied near the US embassy in Seoul on Monday and handed in a letter addressed to Mr Bush.
Civilian deaths
At Camp David, Mr Bush and Mr Karzai presented a united front in their joint news conference and insisted progress was being made in Afghanistan.
President Bush said five million children - a third of them girls - were now going to school.
President Karzai said 85,000 children aged under five were alive thanks to healthcare improvements made since the Taleban regime was toppled in 2001.
Mr Bush said to his ally: "There is still work to be done, don't get me wrong. But progress is being made, Mr President, and we're proud of you."
Mr Karzai is concerned about the number of civilian casualtiesAfghan security was the key issue in the leaders' two-day meeting, as well as the booming trade in illegal drugs, the resurgent Taleban and civilian killings.
Mr Karzai said he had broached the subject of the growing number of civilians killed in coalition-led military operations in Afghanistan with the US leader.Mr Karzai said he had broached the subject of the growing number of civilians killed in coalition-led military operations in Afghanistan with the US leader.
He said: "I had a good discussion with President Bush on civilian casualties and I'm proud to tell you that President Bush felt very much with the Afghan people.He said: "I had a good discussion with President Bush on civilian casualties and I'm proud to tell you that President Bush felt very much with the Afghan people.
"He called the Afghan people allies in the war on terror and friends and he's much concerned as I am, as the Afghan people are." "He's much concerned as I am, as the Afghan people are."
'Merchants of death' Mr Karzai labelled the Islamist militants "merchants of death," who were prepared to use child suicide bombers.
Mr Bush said the Taleban were to blame for civilian casualties, while Mr Karzai labelled the Islamist militants "merchants of death," who were prepared to use child suicide bombers.
The Afghan leader said: "The message should be clear to the rest of the world about the evil we are fighting, the heartless people we are fighting who don't even have any feeling for young children or babies."
Praising his Afghan counterpart, Mr Bush said: "There is still work to be done, don't get me wrong. But progress is being made, Mr president, and we're proud of you."
Mr Bush said they had stymied Taleban plans for a major spring offensive with a show of force.
He said: "There's a spring offensive alright - it was conducted by the US, Nato and, equally importantly, Afghan troops.
"We went on the offensive as we understand it's in our mutual interest to deny extremists the opportunity to derail this young democracy."
Mr Bush also took the opportunity fire a shot across the bows of Iran, labelling that country a "big disappointment" for its people.
"I believe it is in the interests of all of us that we have an Iran that tries to stabilise not destabilise, an Iran that gives up its weapons ambitions and therefore we are working to that end," he said.