G8 leaders have begun wrapping up their a two-day summit in the Canadian Rockies by agreeing a $20 billion deal to aid decommissioning of Russia's nuclear arsenal.
Brandishing their humanitarian credentials from behind a wall of security in the isolated resort of Kananaskis, the Group of Eight heads were to meet leaders of four African nations seeking endorsement of a Marshall Plan for the continent.
Thousands of police and troops were patrolling the mountain forests to protect G8 leaders, tucked 100 kilometers (62 miles) away from protesters in Calgary, from the threat of terror attacks or violent demonstrations.
G8 leaders displayed stark differences the previous day over President George W. Bush's call on Palestinians to replace their leader Mr Yasser Arafat as a condition for his support for an independent state.
But they came together to admit Russia as a full G8 member from 2006, which would allow it to enter their financial discussions, which are now limited to Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.
They also finalised a $20 billion deal designed to finance a program to keep Russia's vulnerable excess plutonium deposits out of the hands of terrorists. Under the financing plan, the United States will put up $10 billion over 10 years, while other G8 members minus Russia will try to raise another $10 billion, failing which other nations will be tapped.
The deal will help put a gloss over meetings riven by Mr Bush's warning that a Palestinian state could only come into being under a new leadership not tainted by terrorism, threatening to cut aid if Palestinians failed to heed his call.
Other G8 leaders distanced themselves from that element of the US plan for Middle East peace.
AFP