Bush in Rome for talks with Berlusconi on Iran, Afghanistan

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2008

ROME (AFP) — US President George W. Bush arrived in Rome Wednesday hoping Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi will help tighten the squeeze on Iran and step up help for war-battered Afghanistan, aides said.

Bush, here on the third stop of what he calls his final Europe trip before leaving office in January, was to hold separate talks with his staunch Iraq war ally on Thursday and with Pope Benedict XVI on Friday before heading to France.

No protesters -- or even rude gestures -- were visible from the US president's motorcade as it screamed from the airport into Rome, just hundreds of Romans snapping photos with pocket cameras or cell phones.

Bush and Berlusconi were also expected to discuss the Middle East peace process, the situation in Lebanon, and...