G-8 leaders wrap up with Africa, Iran actions

updated 2:20 p.m. ET June 8, 2007

HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - Leaders of the Group of Eight agreed Friday on a $60 billion package to fight AIDS, TB and malaria in Africa and warned Iran over its nuclear program, on the final day of the summit of the world’s richer nations.

The G-8 pledged to “adopt further measures” if Iran refuses to halt its uranium enrichment program — a sign of support for U.N. Security Council moves to discuss a third set of sanctions. Uranium enrichment is a process that can produce fuel for civilian energy — or fissile material for a bomb.

Meanwhile, G-8 diplomats ran in to obstacles in discussions on the future of the Serbian province of Kosovo.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the meeting’s host, said there were still “different opinions” on a proposal to put off a U.N. Security Council vote on Kosovo’s independence for six months, and that diplomats would meet again next week.

Wary of delays, Kosovo Prime Minister Agim Ceku said from his provincial capital, “We cannot wait forever. Give us clarity, give us freedom and let us go.”

The United States and the European Union back a U.N. resolution to give the predominantly ethnic Albanian province supervised independence. But Russia is backing ally Serbia in its resistance to ceding the province seen as its historic heartland.

Bush misses final sessions
G-8 leaders held their final sessions at the Baltic Sea resort of Heiligendamm without an ailing President Bush, who stayed in his room to recuperate after meeting privately with French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Bush soon was feeling better and rejoined the summit after missing a session with African leaders and another with heads of state from developing nations China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa.

In his absence, the other seven leaders met with the presidents of Egypt, Algeria, Senegal, Ghana, and Nigeria to back the aid plan for Africa. About half of the $60 billion was pledged earlier by the U.S., and other nations will contribute the rest, Germany’s development minister said.

“It was a very candid and open discussion,” Merkel said. “We said that on behalf of the countries of the G-8, that we are aware of our obligations and we would like to fulfill the promises that we entered into and we are going to do that.”

But the anti-poverty group Oxfam noted that only a fraction of the promised US$60 billion represented new aid since the figure was spread over an unspecified number of years and includes money already pledged.

The new money is important, the group said in a statement, but “should be seen for what it is: a small step when we need giant leaps.”

The leaders also discussed a proposal, put forth by Sarkozy, on the independence-seeking Serbian province of Kosovo that would provide six-months for further talks between Belgrade and the Kosovo Albanians.

If they reach no agreement, the U.N. plan would then take effect, giving the predominantly ethnic Albanian province supervised independence.

Kosovo has been under U.N. supervision since a NATO-led air war in 1999 to halt a Serbian crackdown on ethnic Albanian separatists.

“At the moment, we have not achieved the necessary progress,” Sarkozy said Friday. “The key question that I posed was recognizing the need for Kosovo to achieve independence within a certain timeframe.”

In Pristina, Kosovo’s prime minister urged the West not to betray Kosovo.

“We have committed to the U.N. path and we have been very patient,” Agim Ceku told The Associated Press on Friday. “I urge you; do not betray this trust.”

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