Bush hopes to receive hearty welcome in Rome

U.S. President George W. Bush can look forward to a hearty welcome from his old friend, the Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, and Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to Rome. That's not what could be found on the streets, however, where anti-Bush sentiment over the war in Iraq still lingers.

Photo: Bush hopes to receive hearty welcome in Rome

Bush hopes to receive hearty welcome in Rome

Anti-war activists and hundreds of other demonstrators marched through the streets of the Italian capital as Bush arrived on Wednesday for a visit that was to include meetings with Berlusconi on Thursday and the pope on Friday.

Commercial flights have been banned over Rome during Bush's two-day stay. Dozens of buses and trams have been rerouted. Thousands of policemen have been deployed as part of a tight security plan to monitor any further protests, though Wednesday's march drew far fewer demonstrators than previous visits by Bush.

Slovenia and Germany, the first two stops on Bush's trip, were devoid of demonstrators. One activist group in Germany that had organized protests during previous Bush visits said they did not think this trip was not important enough because Bush has little time left in office.

The Rome protest, though smaller than past demonstrations, was evidence that the Italian public still opposes the Bush administration.

Unlike other European leaders, such as former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and former French President Jacques Chirac, Berlusconi supported Bush on Iraq from the start. The 71-year-old media mogul defied domestic opposition and dispatched about 3,000 troops to Iraq after the fall of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Those troops came home, and Berlusconi, recently elected to his third stint in power since 1994, has pledged not to send any back.

More than 2,000 Italian troops, however, are deployed as part of the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.

Italy, along with Germany, France and Spain, have restricted their troops to less dangerous areas in northern Afghanistan. That has caused a rift because other NATO members are deployed in the more violent regions of the nation. The Italian government is reviewing the restrictions and Berlusconi's office said the premier would talk to Bush about that when they meet.

Berlusconi and Bush also were expected to discuss Italy's interest in joining with the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany that are making a diplomatic push to get Iran to give up what the West believes is an effort to develop nuclear weapons. That might seem unusual for Italy, which recently surpassed Germany as Iran's largest trading partner.

But to show Italy's strong opposition to Iran's suspected nuclear ambitions, Berlusconi and his government refused to meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who was in Rome for a U.N.-sponsored food summit last week.

Bush will meet with the pope on Friday before departing to Paris to continue his farewell European tour. It will be Bush's third meeting with Benedict. The two last met in April at the White House in Washington.