EVIAN, France (AFP) - The world's most powerful leaders converged on the tightly-guarded French resort of Evian aiming to heal rifts over Iraq as thousands of anti-capitalist activists tried to disrupt the meeting.
US President George W. Bush landed on French soil for the G8 summit for first time Sunday since the bitter transatlantic row over the Iraq war, and all eyes will focus on his talks Monday with French President Jacques Chirac, his host and chief opponent in the dispute.
The Group of Eight is set to discuss Iraq and other burning topics such as the fight against terror, the Middle East, weapons proliferation, the North Korea nuclear crisis, global economic woes and aid for developing countries.
As the leaders gathered, tens of thousands of anti-G8 protestors set off on marches from Geneva and the French town of Annemasse to air a series of grievances against the invitation-only club.
French police fired tear gas at Annemasse to stop around 1,500 drum-beating, banner-waving activists blocking a road to nearby Evian on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Other protestors had rampaged overnight through Geneva, over the border in Switzerland, smashing windows and hurling firebombs at government buildings.
Security is so tight around Evian -- some 25,000 French and Swiss security forces are deployed for the summit -- that the protestors have been forced to gather in Geneva and Annemasse.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi were the first to arrive in Evian, followed by Prime Ministers Tony Blair of Britain, Silvio Berlusconi of Italy and Jean Chretien of Canada, while Russian President Vladimir Putin hd touched down in Geneva.
The only G8 leader missing is German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who was delayed by a special congress of his ruling party.
China is not a G8 member, but Hu, on his first foreign foray as president, and the leaders of a dozen other countries such as Brazil, India, Malaysia and South Africa were invited to wider talks ahead of the main business.
The summit begins with a working lunch for heads of state and government as well as UN chief Kofi Annan and the leaders of the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund.
They talks were to focus on economic growth and international cooperation, and Africa, represented by the presidents of Algeria, Egypt, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa, was to take centre-stage later Sunday.
Chirac wants the summit to make Africa a priority, addressing problems such as debt relief, AIDS, drinking water, trade and promotion of democracy.
South African President Thabo Mbeki said he would ask the G8 to drop trade barriers on farm products from poor countries in order to lift millions out of poverty, while Bush is set to urge G8 colleagues to match a 15-billion-dollar (13-billion-euro) plan to combat AIDS.
While G8 summits traditionally assess the health of the global economy and recommend measures to boost growth, this year's gathering -- despite fears over the sliding dollar and the spectre of deflation -- will also need to heal the wounds over the US-led war on Iraq.
Bush made it clear Saturday that while Europe and the United States should bury the hatchet, it should be on his terms. He said it was time for everybody "to step up to the shared duties of free nations."
He and Putin said Sunday their friendship was as strong as ever.
Bush also shook Schroeder's hand at a dinner the previous evening, going a little way to thawing frozen US-German relations since the chancellor's strong anti-war rhetoric.
Blair, for his part, said he was looking for "a strong statement of intent" on halting the spread of weapons of mass destruction, voicing confidence that leaders divided over Iraq were prepared to work together for the future.
Chirac, who has been championing a new "multi-polar" world order to contain US influence, said he was "very happy" to have the chance to meet Bush.
"The G8's goals are goals for tomorrow's world order," he said. The summit had "nothing to do with the divisions that appeared."
Bush plans a quick exit Monday for Middle East summits, his first personal intervention in the troubled region and which could upstage the rest of the G8 talks.
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