February 2001 World Headlines

Monday, February 26, 2001 - Web posted at 7:27:17 AM GMT

Blair finds Bush 'on the ball'

LONDON - New US President George W.Bush may lack extensive experience in foreign affairs, but he has impressed British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his advisers in one of his first forays on the diplomatic stage.

Officials who accompanied Blair to Washington for his first meeting with Bush came away with praise for Bush's mental agility, and said he was better acquainted with foreign policy issues than they had expected from reading the American press.

The prime minister, who spent nearly 24 hours with Bush on Friday and Saturday, said he thought Bush was "on the ball"."

"I found him very impressive indeed," Blair told Sky television on Saturday in one of several broadcast interviews on his plane while returning to London from the United States.

Blair said Bush was "very able, very intelligent, with a real sense of vision about what he wants to achieve, and what's important."

"Blair, the first European leader to meet Bush, was invited to Camp David, the presidential retreat outside Washington.

He and his wife Cherie spent Friday night there with Bush and his wife Laura, and in addition to the formal talks they went for walks in the woods, dined together and even watched a movie.

- Nampa-Reuters

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