This was disclosed to reporters here the other day by a high-ranking US Administration spokesman, who is taking a direct part in pre-summit preparations.
The US President wants to lead the process of G8 summit away from the old-time paradigm, the spokesman told those present, also reminding his audience that previous G8 summits had issued some 30-40 concluding communiques each; one such document dealt with 70 to 80 issues.
This time, President Bush wants to scale down the summit agenda considerably, the Administration spokesman added.
We believe that the G8 summit should focus on a narrow range of issues, which have tremendous significance for the global situation, he stressed.
According to the spokesman, the US President believes that the G8 summit should be filled with real content, also aiming to implement specific action programs. The summit should mostly feature informal opinion exchanges.
Unlike previous G8 summits, the Sea Island summit will pass fewer documents.
Among other things, several action plans dealing with specific aspects of G8 work, i.e. the non-proliferation of mass destruction weapons, counter-terrorist operations, assistance to Third World countries, promoting Mideastern reforms, AIDS-prevention measures, etc., are to be drafted at the summit.
The summit president will issue a brief statement, as well, the spokesman noted in conclusion.
