LONDON (AP) — President Barack Obama became the first world leader to congratulate new British Prime Minister David Cameron on his appointment — offering an invite to visit Washington this summer in telephone talks.
Obama called the U.S. ally’s newest leader late Tuesday, just hours after the 43-year-old became Britain’s youngest prime minister in nearly 200 years following the resignation of Gordon Brown.
The two leaders discussed Iran and Afghanistan, according to the White House and Cameron’s office. Obama placed the telephone call from the Oval Office
Cameron’s Conservative Party won the most seats, though not a majority, in Britain’s election last week and he is negotiating with the third-place Liberal Democrats to form a full coalition government.
Obama said he told Cameron the U.S. has no closer friend and ally than the United Kingdom.
“I reiterated my deep and personal commitment to the special relationship between our two countries,” Obama said in a statement.
Obama said he looked forward to meeting Cameron at an international economic summit June 25-27 in Canada. He also invited Cameron and his wife, Samantha, to visit Washington this summer. Cameron’s office said the invitation was for July.
Obama also thanked Brown for his friendship and his service as head of the outgoing Labour government. Obama said Brown “provided strong leadership during challenging times, and I have been grateful for his partnership.”
Cameron’s office said the new British chief also took a call from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who “offered her congratulations and invited him to visit Berlin at the earliest opportunity.”
“They briefly discussed the world economy” and Europe, Cameron’s office said in a statement.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also congratulated Cameron on his appointment in a telephone call.
“Our two countries share a deep and enduring relationship, forged in good times and bad by hundreds of years of shared history, values and tradition,” Harper said, in a statement released by his office.
Harper said “the bonds between our two countries will deepen over the coming years.”
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the two leaders hoped to “upgrade” their relationship, following a call after Cameron took office. He and invited Cameron to visit — and said he hoped it would be timed for when the two countries next spar in the hotly contested Ashes cricket series.
Rudd told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio he and Cameron would hold talks “perhaps coinciding with a few games of cricket.”
The Australian leader praised Brown as the man who “broke the fall” of the global financial crisis.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key also sent a message of congratulations to Cameron, his office said.
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Associated Press Writers Darlene Superville in Washington, Rod McGuirk in Sydney, Charmaine Noronha in Toronto and Ray Lilley in Wellington, New Zealand, contributed to this report