Bush says US missile plan would not imperil Bulgaria

BULGARIA:US president George Bush told Bulgaria yesterday that it would not be left exposed to attack if Washington built a missile defence system, and pledged support for five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death in Libya for allegedly infecting hundreds of children with HIV.

As on the rest of Mr Bush's European tour, its last day was dominated by talk of the Pentagon's plan to place a long-range radar and interceptor rockets in central Europe - and by the US leader's insistence that Russia had nothing to fear from the project.

He also tried to soothe his host's fears that it would not be protected by the missile shield and would be vulnerable to attack by Washington's enemies. American troops are about to be stationed in Bulgaria and Bulgarian soldiers serve in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"There are missile systems and defence systems available that would deal with intermediate range missiles, so just because Bulgaria is not a part of the longer-range missile shield does not mean that there won't be equipment and help available for intermediate range," said Mr Bush, without making a commitment to offer US weapons to Sofia.

Before flying home yesterday afternoon, Mr Bush reiterated a message delivered in recent days in the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Italy, the Vatican and Albania: that the missile shield would neutralise the threat of rockets fired from "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea, and would not reduce Moscow's military deterrent.

"There is a process where we can co-operate [ with Moscow], share information in a very transparent way, which I think would be beneficial, and I would hope that the Russians would see the meetings as beneficial," the US leader said.

"Russia is a country with whom we should have and can have good relations to solve common problems. One such problem is Iran. Another problem is proliferation," he told reporters after meeting Bulgarian president Georgi Parvanov and premier Sergei Stanishev.

Mr Parvanov said: "The same way I am friends with George and [ Russian president] Vladimir [ Putin], we could keep good relations with both . . . without losing our strategic priorities." He encouraged US firms to invest in the Bulgarian energy sector.

Mr Bush also backed Sofia's drive to free the five Bulgarian nurses in Libya. "We strongly support the release of the Bulgarian nurses in Libya," he said.

"Together with the EU, the United States is contributing to a fund to provide assistance to the Libyan children suffering from this disease and to their families."