President George W. Bush's second administration is committed to relaunching stalled world trade talks, which hold the promise of lifting some 300 million people out of poverty, a senior U.S. official said Saturday. Robert Zoellick, outgoing U.S. trade representative, told business and government leaders at the World Economic Forum that freer trade resulting from a new agreement could improve conditions in many parts of the world and thus help eradicate a breeding ground for terrorism. "We will continue to try to set an ambitious agenda" for the global economy, said Zoellick, who is to become the number 2 at the State Department. Zoellick said more must be done to include India and China in the global economy. "These are two rising economic powers," Zoellick said. "It's critical that we integrate them into the system." He spoke on the fourth day of the five-day annual meeting, after Friday's session was dominated by debate of the threat of military action to stop Iran's nuclear ambitions, with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder warning the Middle East cannot abide another war. "This is a hotbed region already," said Schroeder, one of the leading opponents of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. "The last thing we need is another military conflict." Schroeder, whose government has been working with Britain and France to persuade Iran to forgo nuclear activities that could be used to make atomic weapons, was clearly referring to threats from Washington. --more 1444 Local Time 1144 GMT
