Bush to announce Africa aid plan
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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Bush administration will announce plans to spend $674 million for "humanitarian emergencies" in Africa during a visit by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, according to a U.S. official.
An extensive aid package for poverty-stricken African nations is expected to top the agenda for Blair when he meets with U.S. President George W. Bush on Tuesday in Washington.
The $674 million will come on top of about $1.4 billion the White House is spending on humanitarian needs this year, a National Security Council official said.
Blair won a new mandate from British voters in May despite the unpopularity of the war in Iraq.
But his ruling Labour Party lost more than 90 seats in the House of Commons, and British lawmakers say it is time for Bush to lend a hand to his staunchest ally on the issues Blair wants to address.
In addition to announcing the aid, Bush and Blair "will call on the international community to increase their funding for humanitarian emergencies in Africa," the NSC official said.
"They will call on the world to step up with increased resources for emergencies occurring now and those that might arise in the future."
As this year's chairman of the Group of Eight economic powers, Blair is seeking U.S. help for a 10-year, $25 billion plan to double aid to Africa from developed nations, including programs to forgive debts and battle poverty and disease.
"This is not a time for timidity, nor is it a time to fear reaching too high," Blair's finance minister and sometime rival, Gordon Brown, said last week.
U.S. officials have made it clear the White House doesn't want to double aid to Africa or forgive debts unless countries weed out corruption and reform their governments.
Bush told reporters last week that developed countries "are not going to want to give aid to countries that are corrupt, or don't hold true to democratic principles, such as rule of law and transparency and human rights and human decency."
Tuesday's announcement is a way to show Blair's critics back home that he can pry commitments out of Washington on his priorities.
For years Britain's prime minister has had a mission, one he outlined in a memorable speech after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in America.
"The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world, but if the world as a community focused on it we could heal it," Blair told his Labour Party that autumn.
Last week, South African President Thabo Mbeki said July's G8 summit "has the possibility to communicate a very strong, positive message about movement on the African continent away from poverty and development."
"Your contribution to the practical outcomes of the G8 summit is critically important," Mbeki told Bush.
But Bush at the time said the British plan "doesn't fit our budgetary process."
"On the other hand, I've also made it clear to the prime minister I look forward to working with Great Britain and other countries to advance the African agenda that has been on the G8's agenda for ever since I've been the president," he said.
A senior administration official expressed frustration that when the U.S. president ruled out signing onto that plan, it was taken to mean that the United States wasn't willing to participate at all.
"The president was referring to that specific proposal. It's almost impossible to accept that in its current form. There are alternative ways to meet the same goals," the official told CNN.
Blair's spokesman said Britain agrees that the situation in Africa won't be solved "by throwing money at it," but said the continent needs "a proper combination" of debt relief, trade, political reform and aid.
CNN White House Correspondent Dana Bash and European Political Editor Robin Oakley contributed to this report.
