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President Bush Set for Talks in Albania, Bulgaria


President Bush travels to Albania and Bulgaria Sunday, the final leg of his European trip during which he attended the G-8 summit in Germany and visited the Czech Republic, Poland and Italy.

While in Tirana, Mr. Bush is scheduled to meet with his Albanian counterpart, Alfred Moisiu and Prime Minister Sali Berisha. Before flying to Bulgaria, he will have lunch with Berisha and the Prime Ministers of Croatia and Macedonia.

President Bush travels to Albania from Italy, where he met Saturday with Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Pope Benedict.

Mr. Bush and Mr. Prodi discussed Lebanon, Iran and Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province.

The two leaders agreed that the democratically-elected Lebanese government must survive, and that Tehran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. They also said it is time to push ahead with independence for Kosovo.

In the Vatican, Mr. Bush and the pontiff discussed HIV/AIDS, conflicts in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, with particular attention to Darfur.

Mr. Bush also met with former Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and a prominent Catholic lay organization, the Sant'Egidio Community.

His visit in Italy was marred by anti-U.S. demonstrations which turned violent late Saturday. Italian riot police used tear gas after a group of masked protesters started throwing bottles and other objects at police.

Some information for this report provided by AFP.

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