| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bush previews trip to Africa'We care about the people of the continent'
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush said Thursday he hopes to strengthen ties between Africa and the United States when he visits the continent next week, and highlight U.S. efforts to combat AIDS. "I'll be carrying a message to the African people that, first, America cares about the future of Africa," Bush said in an interview with African print journalists. "It's in our national interest that Africa become a prosperous place; it's in our interest that people will continue to fight terror together; it's in our interest that when we find suffering, we deal with it." Bush departs Monday for a trip that starts in Senegal and includes stops in South Africa, Botswana, Nigeria and Uganda. The White House released a transcript of Thursday's interview, in which he outlined his goals for the trip. It will be his third trip to Africa, but his first as president. Bush said he will tout his administration's efforts to promote development and ease suffering in Africa, including his proposed five-year, $15 billion initiative to fight AIDS in Africa and the Caribbean. He also cited a $100 million plan to fight terrorism in east Africa and another five-year, $600 million education initiative. "We care about the people of the continent," Bush said The president said he would deliver a speech about "race in the world." And he promised to reaffirm his support for genetically modified crops, which, he said, could ease famine in parts of Africa. The idea of genetically altered food has been met with resistance in parts of Europe. The president acknowledged that he hopes his trip also will elevate the image of the United States in Africa. In questioning Bush, one African journalist suggested sympathy for the United States had declined following the U.S. led invasion of Iraq. "There was kind of an attachment to the word 'America' with war," Bush said. "What they're going to find out, the word 'freedom' and 'America' are synonymous. That's what we believe. We believe in freedom." Once Africans learn the facts, Bush said, they'll conclude, "Well, this is a great country." Bush brushed off a question suggesting that the United States was only interested in Africa to tap into its oil. "That's one of the most amazing conspiracies I've heard," Bush said. Turning to the troubled African nation of Liberia, Bush repeated his call for Liberian President Charles Taylor to step down. "That message is clear," Bush said. "I can't make it any more clear."
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
