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World leaders condemn attacks, offer support
RELATEDSPECIAL REPORT
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS(CNN) -- World leaders expressed their condolences to the British people Thursday and sent messages to Prime Minister Tony Blair that they were united in the fight against terrorism. Leaders invited to the Group of Eight summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, issued a joint statement, read by Blair, the G8 host. "We condemn utterly these barbaric attacks," Blair said, flanked by the other somber members of the G8 summit and invited leaders from Brazil, South Africa, Mexico, India and China. "We send our profound condolences to the victims and their families." Terrorist acts have affected each of the nations, and the leaders are "united in our resolve" to defeat terrorism that is an attack "not on one nation, but on all nations," the statement said. (Transcript) "We shall prevail, and they shall not," Blair said before departing for London. He turned the summit over to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw while he traveled to London, before returning late Thursday. (Full story) President Bush also condemned the perpetrators of the attacks. "The contrast couldn't be clearer between the intentions and the hearts of those of us who care deeply about human rights and human liberty and those who kill, those who have such evil in their heart that they will take the lives of innocent folks," Bush said. The president said the ideology of hope and compassion would triumph over that of hate. (Transcript) Bush also said he had spoken with U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials, who raised the alert level for the nation's mass transit systems. (Full story) German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said he is pleased that G8 host Blair has asked that the summit's work continue and is not letting "cowardly terrorist attacks" deter the effort, which is focused on "overcoming hunger and poverty." "Maintaining and securing the environment are central global tasks for our world," he said. French President Jacques Chirac, who has been at odds with Blair over the Iraq war and EU budgetary issues, offered an unequivocal denunciation of the attacks, calling the terrorists "savages." "We have been totally unanimous in our reaction and have shown solidarity, the G8 and the states that joined us for this summit," Chirac said. "The only thing [the attacks] have achieved is to strengthen even further a sense of solidarity that prevails among the 13 nations represented here." Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin called the London bombings "an unspeakable attack on the innocent." "Our collective freedom has come under assault today by those who would use violence and murder to force extremism upon the world," he said. "We must and we will stand against these terrorists." Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a united response. Putin said through spokesman Alexei Gromov that "no matter where such inhuman crimes occur in London, New York, Moscow or other countries of the world -- they demand unconditional condemnation," Reuters reported. The Russian leader went a step further, saying, according to The Associated Press: "What happened today again testifies to the fact that all of us are doing too little to unite our forces effectively in the struggle against terrorism." The Kremlin leader said the world community should rid itself of "double standards" in its attitude towards such "bloody crimes". Referring to past Chechen attacks in Russia, which included a bloody hostage-seizing at a school in Beslan last September, Putin said he was sure world leaders could stand together against terror and "root out this 21st-century plague fully and conclusively". Other leaders also offered their condolences. A statement from Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero called the blasts in London "savage attacks." Zapatero said his government "calls for unity by all who believe in freedom and peace in the face of barbarous terrorism." In 2004, 191 people were killed and more than 1,500 wounded in Madrid when 10 bombs exploded on four commuter trains. Authorities have blamed the Madrid attacks on Islamist terrorists, and more than 100 suspects have been charged. The Spanish government "expresses its deepest solidarity with the people of London, the [British] government, the authorities and the British people," Zapatero's statement said. At the United Nations, the Security Council condemned the bombings in a resolution that calls on all nations "to cooperate to bring these people to justice," British U.N. ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he "was devastated by the atrocious bombings," calling them "an attack on humanity itself." Annan, who was en route to the summit in Scotland from London at the time of the bombings, called on the G8 leaders to show their resolve. "Let us not allow the violence perpetrated by a few to deflect us from addressing the aspirations of billions of our fellow men and women who are demanding change," he said. In Brussels, Belgium, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said there was "no justification for such heinous crimes." "I know I speak on behalf of all NATO allies when I express our sympathy for and solidarity with the British people," de Hoop Scheffer said. The Spanish-born foreign policy chief of the European Union, Javier Solana, expressed "solidarity with the people of London and with the British government." "People across Europe and around the world will join in condemning what is a hideous attack on innocent civilians," he said. Eating breakfast within two blocks of the first explosion Thursday was Rudolph Giuliani, who was mayor of New York at the time of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks. Giuliani told CNN his reaction to the bombings "was a great feeling of empathy and sadness for the people of London" but also "a great feeling of inspiration from the way they dealt with it." "They, essentially, thwarted what the terrorists, I believe, were trying to achieve, which was to create chaos," he said. Giuliani said he had drawn inspiration from Londoners on 9/11. "On September 11, 2001, when I was trying to remember who had been through this before, and who could we look to as a model, the first thing I thought of were the people of London in the Battle of Britain and Winston Churchill," he said. Other reactionsCNN's Al Goodman contributed to this report. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. 
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