WASHINGTON, July 7 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush was due to leave Monday for a whirlwind five-nation tour of Africa, seeking to prove that America cares about the continent's misery, but also to bolster his war on terrorism.
Bush was set to leave Washington late Monday and arrive in the west African state of Senegal early Tuesday, before moving on to South Africa, Botswana, Uganda, and Nigeria -- an itinerary the White House has said will focus on African success stories.
He will avoid the summit of the African Union, which draws the continent's leaders to Maputo, Mozambique, between July 10-12, and steer clear of Kenya, presumably because of security concerns.
Unlike many world leaders and celebrities who visit South Africa, he will not pay a courtesy call on revered statesman Nelson Mandela, an outspoken critic of the US-led war on Iraq.
Bush's agenda includes AIDS, war-ravaged Liberia and what Washington views as potential breeding grounds for terrorism in parts of Africa.
Washington is weighing whether to send US peacekeeping troops to help end the latest civil war in Liberia, riven by almost incessant conflict since 1990. A preliminary team of US military experts arrived in the Liberian capital Monrovia Monday to prepare for a possible US deployment there.
Bush has pressed Liberian President Charles Taylor to stand down, and Taylor accepted an offer of asylum in Nigeria on Sunday, but gave no indication when he would leave.
Some observers have expressed surprise that Bush, with a foreign agenda packed by subduing opposition in Iraq, the search for Middle East peace and North Korea's nuclear designs, is bothering with Africa at all.
"Misinformation," Bush declared when asked by CNN television why the US administration had only just become interested in Africa.
"From the very beginning of my administration I have been very much involved with African affairs," insisted the president, who laid out how he has sought to change "fundamental" policies in Africa through the allocation of US aid.
"I thought it was important to go before my first term was over to show the importance of Africa to my administration's foreign policy."
The US president said his proposed Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) will have an "incredibly positive" impact on the lives of Africans. He also highlighted his 15-billion-dollar programme to combat AIDS, which is ravaging the continent.
Aid to poor countries in Africa and other regions is to be dramatically increased under Bush's MCA plan.
But Bush said "governments actually have to make decisions which will be positive on behalf of their people, such as educating their people, providing health care for their people, not to steal the money, not to focus on the elite but focus on the people themselves, create the conditions for market growth."
The US leader also wants help from Africa in the war against radical groups that he fears will attack US interests.
Bush last week promised a 100 million dollar anti-terror plan to Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, designed to improve port security and border patrols.
And the New York Times reported Saturday that the Pentagon hopes to persuade African allies to grant more access to US anti-terror troops.
Some groups have praised Bush's visit and his policies.
DATA, an Africa pressure group co-founded by pop star Bono, says the AIDS plan and the MCA could represent a revolution in aid to Africa.
Five hundred people gathered in Johannesburg on Saturday to protest against Bush's upcoming visit. The Iraq war and other issues have raised public anger there.
And some critics counter the trip is merely an outing for the White House spin machine.
"President Bush is misleading a nation and a continent," said Salih Booker, Executive Director of the Africa Action pressure group.
"He is misleading the American people by claiming his administration is taking real steps to address Africa's most urgent challenges."
In an editorial Monday the New York Times said Bush's trip was a "significant step in America's deepening relations with the continent."
"For too long, Washington and other Western capitals treated Africa as if it were condemned to war, poverty and preventable epidemics. Mr Bush understands that Africans are entitled to a better future, and that America can help them achieve it.
"Turning that vision into reality will take more than whirlwind tours and inspiring speeches," the Times warned, adding that Bush must press Congress for sustained multi-year funding and "speak plainly with African leaders about steps they themselves need to take."
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