French President Jacques Chirac, left, U.S. President George W. Bush, center, and British Prime Minister Tony Blair after a meeting at the Hotel Royal in Evian, France. Group of Eight leaders met today for the second day of a three-day summit. AP Photo

EVIAN, France - World leaders projected confidence they will turn around their weak economies and pledged to cooperate on rebuilding Iraq.

President Bush and the other leaders said today they saw a number of hopeful signs that the current economic troubles - including a sluggish rebound in the United States and threats of new recessions in Europe and Japan - would soon be replaced by stronger growth worldwide.

French President Jacques Chirac called the discussions on the global economy "very positive" and said the leaders expressed a "message of confidence" that their countries could achieve higher growth rates.

All leaders at the annual Group of Eight summit - composed of the world's seven wealthiest nations and Russia - asserted they were putting divisions over Iraq behind them. The rift was especially deep between Bush and Chirac, who led the opposition to the U.S.-led war.

Bush, who had a one-on-one session with Chirac on Monday, said he wanted to seek Chirac's advice as he headed later Monday to the Middle East for a new round of peace negotiations.

Bush was leaving the summit to engage in an intense round of diplomacy with leaders of Arab countries and Israel and try to advance Middle East peace talks.

Bush said that G-8 discussions had reinforced his belief that joint cooperation between the United States and Europe was critical to resolving global problems.

"A united Europe working with America can do a lot of good ... on such issues as fighting terror, working on matters such as proliferation. We can do a lot of good to help those who suffer," Bush said.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair told reporters that part of Monday's discussion was devoted to the efforts being made by European countries such as France and Germany to institute economic reforms that will lead to higher growth. Increased competition due to globalization was forcing all countries to accept the need to do so, he said.

"There is a general recognition that if we don't change and reform our economies quickly we are not going to be able to survive with the same living standards in the modern world," Blair said.

The leaders also were preparing an action plan to confront fears that terrorists could use shoulder-mounted missiles to bring down commercial jetliners.

While four of the G-8 countries - France, Germany, Russia and Canada - opposed the Iraq war, Chirac said that there was a common agreement now that the new United Nation's Security Council resolution would serve as the basis for rebuilding Iraq.

The Bush administration won a victory when those countries dropped their opposition to giving the United States and Britain a broad mandate in a U.N. resolution, overwhelmingly approved last month, to rebuild Iraq with only minimal input from the United Nations.

Chirac called the new resolution a "solid base" for going forward with Iraq reconstruction.

The opening day of the G-8 summit Sunday had been devoted to discussions among a much larger group of 11 of the world's major developing countries including China, Brazil, India, Mexico and Malaysia joining a number of African nations.

The African countries won commitments from the United States and Europe to greatly increase the money they will provide to fight AIDS in poor countries.

Before gathering around a massive round table for the Monday morning talks, Bush and the other leaders took in the magnificent views of Lake Geneva and the surrounding Alps on the hotel's terrace.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien told reporters that "people are smiling, Schroeder is happy."

Schroeder was the last leader to arrive, missing most of the first day to stay in Berlin and win passage at an emergency party conference of a far-reaching economic reform package that he hopes will revive Germany's sagging economy.

The leaders, recognizing his victory on the package, gave Schroeder a round of applause and backslaps when he arrived late to Sunday night's dinner.

In contrast to the harmony inside the meetings, riot police had pitched battles into the night Monday with thousands of protesters intent on destruction and looting in nearby Geneva. However, with daylight on Monday and the resumption of the workweek, Geneva, Lausanne and the French town of Annemass, the main flashpoints of days of anti-G-8 demonstrations, were quiet.

Chirac, who had used his position as chairman to invite a record number of developing country leaders to the summit, pronounced the experiment a success.

Bush, who will host next year's gathering in a yet-to-be-selected site in the United States, has made no decision on the guest list, spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters.

German officials told reporters African nations are unlikely to be invited to the U.S. meeting but would attend the British session in 2005 when they will give an update on G-8 efforts to boost economic conditions in the world's poorest continent.