(27 Jun 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Helicopter carrying the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, landing at Camp David
2. Honour guard carrying the flags of the US and the United Arab Emirates marching towards helicopter
3. US President George W. Bush walking towards helicopter
4. Bush greets the crown prince and shakes his hand
5. Bush and the crown prince walk towards the cameras, pause, shake hands and walk away
6. Bush and the crown prince driving away on a golf cart
7. Bush and crown prince in golf cart driving away
STORYLINE:
US President George W Bush hosted the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheik Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, at Camp David on Thursday, returning the hospitality of an oil-rich country just as oil prices recorded another spike.
The President welcomed the Sheik to the rustic wooded retreat in the Maryland mountains in typical fashion.
As the crown prince's helicopter landed on a large hilltop meadow on the property, the flag of the United Arab Emirates was hoisted
along side the American flag.
Bush, wearing an open-collared blue dress shirt, greeted the crown prince, in an untucked golf shirt over khakis, at the helicopter's steps and they walked down an honour guard of Marines and Navy sailors.
This visit was a return favour for Bush's stay in Abu Dhabi in January, during which he travelled to the crown prince's desert playground, a remote encampment where he raises horses and prize falcons.
Bush was feted there with a lavish feast of dishes ranging from bread with honey to grilled meats and sweets.
The visit came as oil prices hit another milestone on Thursday, with light sweet crude rising 5.09 US dollars to close at a record 139.64 US dollars a barrel.
OPEC's (Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) President, Chakib Khelil, warned prices could reach between 150 and 170 US dollars this summer, all part of an expectation for gasoline prices to continue their upward march.
After chatting and posing for cameras, the two leaders climbed into a golf cart as Bush rushed his guest off for a tour of the grounds.
They were reportedly having a picnic dinner of fried chicken, corn on the cob, devilled eggs, potato salad and coleslaw.
Their official meetings, all private and closed to any media coverage, were scheduled for Friday morning, followed by a lunch of hamburgers,
french fries, onion rings and ice cream.
The crown prince was leaving Camp David on Friday afternoon. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and, with the lion's share of its oil resources, the richest of the seven semi-autonomous emirates that make up the federation.
The UAE (United Arab Emirates) is also deeply undemocratic, making Bush's courtship of its leaders somewhat awkward in the face of his "Freedom Agenda" to seed democracy around the globe, particularly in the Arab world.
A US State Department report last year found what it called significant human rights problems in the Emirates including: no citizens right to change the government; flogging as a judicially sanctioned punishment; and restrictions on freedom of speech and the media.
The crown prince's overnight stay at Camp David puts him in an elite class of world leaders who have been awarded visits to locales prized by Bush, including the presidential retreat and his own ranch in Central Texas.
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7 сен 2024
