Leaders from the Group of Eight (G-8) industrialized countries are arriving in Savannah, Georgia Tuesday for a three-day summit, to discuss the Middle East, Iraq and a wide range of other issues.  

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and his Canadian counterpart, Paul Martin, were the first to arrive at the Hunter Army Air Field, which is located along the western edge of the Savannah City, Tuesday morning. They were flown by a helicopter to Sea Island, some 120 km from Savannah, where they will meet other G-8 leaders.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Jacques Chirac and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi are coming on their heels.

Leaders from Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Algeria, Jordan and Yemen will arrive in the evening to join the G-8 leaders at a lunch on Wednesday to discuss political and economic reform in the greater Middle East.

On Thursday, leaders from South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Senegal are to meet the G-8 leaders at lunch for talks on preventing famine and HIV/AIDS in Africa.

The G-8 leaders will take on many key policy issues concerning the broader Middle East and the counter proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, the strengthening of international cooperation in the war on terror, and the expansion of global peacekeeping efforts, Jim Wilkinson, deputy assistant to the president and deputy national security advisor for communications, said at a briefing Tuesday morning.

The leaders will also discuss global economy and trade, poverty alleviation, HIV-AIDS, environment and other issues, he said.

Before the summit begins, agreement has been reached on several key initiatives, including a special initiative known as Ending the Cycle of Famine in the Horn of Africa to help stem famine in the Horn of Africa, an innovative action plan to use the power of entrepreneurship to help eradicate poverty, Wilkinson said.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2004)