Discussions were expected to focus on Iran’s nuclear program, Syria crisis, NKorea, Europe growth policies

US President Barack Obama threw his weight behind French calls more pro-growth policies in Europe Friday, as he welcomed G8 leaders to Camp David for a summit darkened by Greece's possible eurozone exit.
  
Obama set the stage for a fractious meeting of world leaders by forging an alliance with new French President Francois Hollande over the need to jolt Europe back to growth.
  
Fearing Europe's crisis is poised worsen -- with dangerous repercussions for the US economy and perhaps Obama's chances of re-election -- Obama risked the ire of German Chancellor Angela Merkel who has championed an austerity-first approach.
  
Shortly before welcoming Merkel and other leaders to his famed presidential retreat outside Washington, Obama noted that events in Europe held "extraordinary" importance for the United States.
  
The G8 needed to discuss "a responsible approach to fiscal consolidation that is coupled with a strong growth agenda," he said. To kick-off the summit Obama greeted leaders shortly after dusk at the threshold of his wood cabin for an informal dinner.
  
But the “friendly” atmosphere did little to relieve tensions, which have been stoked by the belief that two-years of painful cuts demanded by Germany and others have undercut Greek growth and made recovery more difficult.
  
In what may have been a telling moment, Obama greeted Merkel at his Laurel Lodge with a cordial: "How've you been?" When her response came: a shrug and pursed lips, Obama conceded: "Well, you have a few things on your mind."
  
Publicly European leaders have attempted to smooth over the splits within the G8, insisting austerity and stimulus need not be mutually exclusive.
 
"We need to take action for growth while staying the course in terms of putting our public finances in order. Stability and growth go together, they are two sides of the same coin," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said ahead of the summit.

G8 leaders will hold their main discussions on Europe's fiscal plight Saturday at Camp David's rustic collection of cabins on the wooded Catoctin Mountain in Maryland, outside Washington.
  
Friday night's dinner discussions were expected to focus on Iran's nuclear program ahead of talks between global powers and the Islamic Republic in Baghdad later this month.
  
The leaders are also expected to address Syria's crisis, North Korea and Myanmar, after Obama eased US investment restrictions Thursday on the country formerly known as Burma.

Diplomats said the weekend would also see an agreement on how to help newly free Arab nations recover state assets moved abroad by members of previous regimes.

The G8 club of developed nations includes the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.