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Obama, Brown urge global action on economy

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-03-04 09:31

US President Barack Obama (R) speaks alongside British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (2nd R) during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, March 3, 2009. [Agencies]

'SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP'

The meeting between Obama and Brown was followed by a working lunch. The British prime minister will deliver a speech on Wednesday to the US Congress, where he plans to lead a charge against protectionism.

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The high profile accorded to Brown's visit did not dispel anxiety that the traditional "special relationship" between Britain and the United States might not be as strong as it once was.

The Brown visit has raised comparisons to the relationship between Obama's and Brown's predecessors, George W. Bush and Tony Blair, who forged a close friendship in the aftermath of September 11 attacks in 2001.

Some analysts said there seemed less of a focus on Europe in the early weeks of the Obama administration than in the past.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Asia on her first trip abroad and is in the Middle East this week.

British media last week seized on a White House spokesman's use of the phrase "special partnership" as a possible indication that the relationship had been downgraded.

US President Barack Obama (R) listens to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, March 3, 2009. [Agencies]

But Obama said his administration was as committed as ever to the alliance, adding that it was sustained by a common language and common history.

"This notion that somehow there is any lessening of that special relationship is misguided," Obama said.

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