EVIAN, France -- President Bush arrived Sunday for his first visit to France since the Iraq war, turning attention from the Group of Eight summit to a smoldering dispute with his loudest critic Jacques Chirac.

The French president gave him a short handshake and a stiff smile on arrival in Evian, the French spa on the shores of Lake Geneva, and Bush waved self-consciously at journalists and delegates assembled at the luxury hotel summit venue.

Chirac had earlier given markedly warmer welcomes to other arriving G8 leaders.

Both men have said the Iraq dispute, in which Chirac rallied Germany and Russia against U.S. invasion plans, was now history. But Bush's plan to leave the summit early and comments by his aides showed France's challenge still rankled. "People aren't going to change their positions," British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who backed Bush on the war, told reporters on his plane flying to the summit. "The question is, are people prepared to work together in the future?"

He also said signs of an economic upturn were emerging in the United States and Europe and progress in G8 cooperation against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction would help restore confidence in international markets.

At protest hotspots dotted around Lake Geneva, hundreds of black-hooded anti-G8 activists burned tires on Geneva bridges, smashed shop windows in Lausanne and blocked roads in Annemasse. French and Swiss police fired teargas to control the crowds.

Twin marches from Geneva and Annemasse were due to join up at the French-Swiss frontier in the main anti-G8 protest.

Protesters charge the Group of Eight -- the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Russia -- is a rich men's club that exploits developing countries rather than helping them.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, one of the leaders from developing countries invited to Evian, said African countries felt aid pledges from earlier summits had not yet been honored and G8 leaders should give them progress reports during Sunday's talks.

"We are at the point where we should say the global framework was agreed ... now we must be at the stage of implementation," he told BBC radio.

AIRLIFT TO SUMMIT The G8 leaders arrived in Geneva, the nearest international airport, and took a helicopter over Europe's largest lake to a luxury hotel above Evian where the June 1-3 summit is being held.

Most counterparts from 12 major developing countries and four leading international organizations crossed Lake Geneva by boat from Lausanne to attend talks on Africa, debt relief, AIDS and access to clean water and cheap medicines.

Bush's visit came after a reconciliation meeting in St Petersburg with Russian President Vladimir Putin, another opponent of the U.S.-led war to overthrow Saddam Hussein, and a friendly handshake with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

His next moves could prove divisive. Bush has paved his way to Evian with proposals to track illegal shipments of weapons of mass destruction, pressure Iran and North Korea to curb their nuclear programs and encourage the Europeans to give up their opposition to genetically modified food.

Washington accuses Iran and North Korea of clandestinely developing atomic weapons. Defying Washington, Russia has vowed to continue building a nuclear power plant in Iran while seeking assurances on its nuclear program.

The European Union will hold the latest round of talks on a trade agreement in Tehran just as the G8 meeting begins. ----Focus on Africa ----

Aiming to turn attention away from Washington's agenda, Chirac has given high priority at the opening day's talks to Africa and development issues such as debt relief, fighting AIDS and easier access to cheap medicines and clean water.

Ways to revive the sluggish world economy will come up for discussion at Monday morning's session, followed by a working lunch on issues such as the Middle East and Iraq.

Bush sought to reassure Europeans on the falling dollar, saying the financial markets had devalued the currency contrary to U.S. policy and he believed good fiscal and monetary policy would strengthen the dollar again. Chirac will have a private meeting with Bush Monday, but U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice has made clear that Washington was not about to forgive his campaign to deny a U.N. mandate for the use of force in Iraq. Bush in France for Protest-Hit G8 Summit Sun June 1, 2003 07:54 AM ET