Bush in Italy for NATO summit

ROME, Italy -- U.S. President George W. Bush is in Rome on the final leg of a four-nation European tour that culminates with a NATO-Russia summit bringing together 20 world leaders.

Bush is also scheduled to meet Pope John Paul II on Tuesday before heading home to Washington at the end of a week-long trip that has also taken him to Germany, Russia and France.

The presidential plane touched down at Rome's Ciampino airport at 6:10 p.m. (1610 GMT) from Paris.

Bush was due to have a private dinner with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, one of his most ardent European supporters, in an ornate Renaissance villa on the outskirts of Rome.

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The focal point of his 24-hour visit will be Tuesday's NATO meeting at an airbase beside the Mediterranean, where leaders are expected to set the seal on a new era of cooperation with the alliance's former Cold War foe, Russia.

Observers say the revised NATO-Russia council will establish policy on a range of issues, including counter-terrorism, regional emergencies, arms control and sea-rescue operations.

Italy has imposed tight security for the meeting, fearing militants may try to target the first gathering of NATO leaders since the September 11 attacks on the United States. (Full story)

All Italian airlines and some foreign carriers are suspending their Rome operations during the summit to guard against possible hijackings.

The Italian government is to deploy fighter jets to patrol the skies in case of possible airborne attack while anti-air missiles and helicopter gunships will be used.

About 15,000 soldiers, police and firemen will be on guard duty at the Pratica di Mare military airbase, Europe's second biggest.

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The Italian government says it has no knowledge of a specific threat to the meeting, but it is taking no chances.

Roads around the U.S. ambassador's residence in central Rome were sealed off on Monday before Bush's arrival, causing traffic chaos, and the media said he would travel around in a 50-car convoy, complete with guards carrying machine guns.

On a visit to Normandy, northern France, on Monday, Bush linked the D-Day landings that ultimately led to the defeat of the Nazis in World War II to the war against terrorism . (Full story)

In Russia, Bush signed a nuclear weapons disarmament treaty with President Vladimir Putin. (Full story)