British Prime Minister Tony Blair will host a meeting of European leaders later today (Sunday) in London, setting off what is expected to be a busy week of international diplomacy about Afghanistan and the war against terrorism.
French President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin will visit along with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Belgium's Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, holder of the European Union's rotating presidency, will also attend.
Mr. Blair will also brief the European leaders about his recent Middle East visit aimed at bolstering support among Arab nations for the international war on terrorism.
The British prime minister is reported to have achieved mixed results when he visited Syria, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority last week.
French president Chirac is due in Washington Tuesday for talks with President Bush, followed by Mr. Blair on Wednesday.
Separately, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee arrived in Russia today (Sunday) for talks on fighting terrorism and on Afghanistan's future.
The Indian leader will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and then fly to Washington to meet with President Bush.