US President George W Bush arrived Tuesday in Sydney for this year’s APEC summit, but aside from Australian officials, numerous demonstrators wanted to greet the American leader.

But before Air Force One landed at Sydney International Airport, protesters were driven away by police forces and only a small group of 50 demonstrators remained at the city’s biggest railway station to shout their anti-war slogans.

Security troops swarmed Australia’s biggest city amidst Bush’s arrival, as the White House leader came with his own impressive contingent of agents from the Secret Service.

Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are scheduled to hold talks with other leaders from nations that are part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which unites 21 countries from the Pacific Rim.

Meanwhile, anti-war protesters are determined to make their discontent known and warned they will not be intimidated, programming a march that would gather 15,000 people on Saturday.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard was clearly displeased by the demonstrations and advised the activists to maintain order, along with considering APEC achievements before protesting.

“If they are so concerned about world poverty, why don't they stop for a moment and recognize that economic growth of the APEC region has lifted tens of millions of people out of poverty since APEC was founded?” the premier said.

The ties between Bush and Howard are known to be very good, especially after the Australian premier pledged to support the 2003 Iraq invasion and sent troops in the conflict-torn region.

Howard warned security troops won’t tolerate any reckless behaviour from protesters, outlining that 4,500 government forces are prepared to quell any outburst of violence in Sydney.

Authorities announced that medical facilities across the city are ready to receive casualties of  potential clashes and 30 buses became mobile detention facilities for violent demonstrators.

”Right now, there's one priority, there's one show in town, and that's APEC,” Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said. “APEC must be delivered. It's the biggest security event we've had in this nation.”

During his four-day visit, Bush will meet for the first time with opposition Labor Party leader Kevin Rudd, who is expected to become Australia’s next prime minister after the November elections.

But that wouldn’t be such a good news for Bush, because Rudd vowed to pull out the 1,500 troops stationed in Iraq if he succeeds Howard in office.

“Mr Bush and Mr Howard have their view on Iraq and we have a different view,” Rudd said, adding his policy won’t be influenced by the meeting with Bush.

A recent opinion poll conducted among Australians revealed that more than half of the participants do not agree with President Bush’s policies, especially the Iraq invasion.

Referring to the summit’s agenda, Howard said he personally hopes APEC members will reach a consensus regarding core issues like free trade and climate change.

“You never solve all the world's problems at one meeting and it's always a mistake to say that unless this meeting achieves A, B and C it's a total failure,” the premier said.

“If we can get some consensus on a way forward on climate change out of a body including America, Russia and China, that's a huge step forward.”

Also, Howard said a pact resembling to the Kyoto Protocol won’t emerge after this week’s meetings and he forwarded the idea of a “long-term aspirational goal,” rather than compulsory measures of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“The key task in Sydney is to give political direction to the shape of a future framework for climate change that is truly global,” he said. “At APEC we should strive to find agreement on principles for international action that genuinely address the problem, whilst allowing countries such as China and Indonesia to continue to grow and prosper.”