SEA ISLAND, Ga. – President Bush is adding Iraq's new president to the leaders he plans to meet with in one-on-one conversations on the fringes of this week's big-power economic summit.
Bush will meet with President Ghazi al-Yawer (search) on Wednesday afternoon, White House spokesman Scott McClellan (search) announced Monday. Al-Yawer was among a group of Middle Eastern leaders already invited by Bush to attend a special luncheon on Wednesday.
A day before the beginning of the annual Group of Eight (search) economic summit, Bush rode his mountain bike along the beach on Monday, went fishing, planted a tree and toured the major event sites on this coastal resort island.
For Bush, it was a light day following his return late Sunday from a three-day trip to Italy and France.
The president also was briefed by advisers on summit topics and met with 75 summit workers to thank them for their efforts, McClellan said.
The tree planting followed a tradition in which presidents and world leaders have planted live oak trees at the major resort complex on the island.
Other tree planters have included the first President Bush, Dwight Eisenhower (search), Jimmy Carter (search) and Gerald Ford (search) and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (search).
Bush's parents honeymooned on the island in 1945 and spent their 50th anniversary here.
Bush went fishing in a boat Monday morning, staying close to shore. McClellan said he didn't know if the president had caught anything.
The president and the other foreign leaders attending the summit are staying in multimillion-dollar homes on this secluded vacation island about midway between Savannah, Ga., and Jacksonville, Fla.
Bush was the first to arrive. The others are coming on Tuesday and the summit will kick off with a dinner Tuesday night.
The Group of Eight includes the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.
Bush plans to meet separately on Tuesday with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin (search), German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder (search) and Russian President Vladimir Putin (search).
On Wednesday he meets with British Prime Minister Tony Blair (search) and on Thursday he meets with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and with French President Jacques Chirac (search).
The Iraqi president is the only non Group of Eight leader that Bush is expected to meet with in a one-on-one session.
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