Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Sunday Times (Johannesburg) - Sunday June 29, 2003
He also called for a new government in Zimbabwe.
Among other initiatives, Bush has offered $100-million to increase security at African airports and harbours, and has added his voice to those calling for Liberian President Charles Taylor to end the carnage in his country by stepping down from power.
During his five-day trip to the continent, starting on July 8, Bush will visit Senegal, South Africa, Botswana, Uganda and Nigeria.
He told members of the US-African Business Summit this week: "My trip should signal that I am optimistic about the future of the continent. I also understand that freedom and prosperity are not achieved overnight . . . I know there are serious obstacles to overcome."
He said that almost 40 million Africans are at risk of starvation, and that nearly 30 million have Aids or are infected with HIV. He added that about 42 million African children are not enrolled in school.
Turning to wars, he added that an estimated two million people have died in a 20-year civil war in Sudan, the continent's longest-running conflict. At least two million more - estimates run as high as 4.7 million - have died in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Bush said establishing peace and security in Africa is "the first great goal" of US policy in the region.
To this end, he called for the establishment of an interim government in Congo by tomorrow, and repeated Secretary of State Colin Powell's demand, made earlier this week, that democracy be established in Zimbabwe. On Liberia, despite calling for Taylor to stand down, Bush appeared to ignore calls for direct US intervention to stop the bloodshed.
Bush said the "freedom and dignity of a nation is under assault" in Zimbabwe, which faces its worst economic and political crisis since independence in 1980.
"I urge all nations, including the nations of Africa, to encourage a return to democracy in Zimbabwe," Bush said.
Bush's deadline on an interim Congo government, observers noted, appeared ambitious - talks are under way on forming that government, but there was no sign of an imminent breakthrough by the weekend.
He appealed to Congo's neighbours to back the creation of an integrated national army.
He also emphasised the importance of achieving a peace agreement in Sudan.
"The north and south must finalise a just and comprehensive peace agreement," Bush said, adding that he was sending his special envoy, former senator John Danforth, back to Sudan in two weeks.
"He will make clear the only option on the table is peace," Bush said. "Both sides must now make their final commitment to peace and human rights and end the suffering in Sudan."
Bush's African safari is not without its critics.
A Baltimore-based think-tank, Catholic Relief Services, warned in a report this week that Africa was rapidly becoming a key supplier of oil to the US, which already imports 17% of its oil from sub-Saharan Africa. Within the next decade nearly a quarter of the supply will come from the region.
The think-tank called on the US to emphasise "respect of human rights, the promotion of good governance and democracy, and the transparent, fair and accountable management of oil revenues in their bilateral relationships" with so-called African "petro-states".
At the same time, it called on African governments to remove obstacles to transparent disclosure and monitoring of the oil sector.
Meanwhile, former South African president Nelson Mandela has said he might not meet the US president. Mandela said Bush was wrong to circumvent the United Nations and overthrow Iraqi President Saddam Hussein by force.
"Since the creation of the United Nations there has not been a world war since 1945. Therefore for anybody, especially the leader of a superstate, to act outside the United Nations is something that must be condemned by everybody who wants peace," Mandela told reporters after meeting French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin.
Sunday Times Foreign Desk
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