By Jeremy Pelofsky, Feb. 16, 2008
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Friday the possible shift of the U.S. military command for Africa to the continent from its current home in Germany will be on the agenda as he meets with leaders of five African countries.
Bush on Friday departed for a six-day trip to Africa to highlight one of the few bright spots in his foreign policy agenda, assistance to HIV/AIDS victims and helping budding businesses. He will visit Tanzania, Ghana, Benin, Liberia and Rwanda.
But the conflicts in Darfur and Kenya will also be on the agenda, as well as lobbying from African leaders on where to locate the new Africa Command headquarters, known as Africom, whose primary mission will be to work with African militaries.
"If there is going to be a physical presence on the continent of Africa in the forms of a headquarters ... obviously we would seriously consider Liberia," Bush said in an interview with foreign media on Thursday and released on Friday.
In the interview, Bush said there was a path forward in Kenya, which has been wracked with violence after a disputed election.
"There is a way forward, which is for the parties to come together in good faith, and work out a way forward until there are new elections," he said.
Bush has asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to go to Kenya with a message that there must be a full return to democracy and she will be in Nairobi on Monday.
The U.S. attention to Africa has been growing over the last few years amid concerns that countries there could become safe havens for militants seeking to base operations and plan attacks on the United States.
"Africom is a brand new concept aimed at strengthening nations' capacities to deal with trafficking or terror, but also to help nations develop forces capable of doing the peacekeeping that unfortunately too often is needed on the continent," Bush said.
The U.S. has some 1,700 troops in Djibouti. While Liberia has offered to host Africom, regional powers like South Africa and Nigeria have been wary.
The U.S. military divides the world into regional commands. Previously, responsibility for Africa was split between European Command, Pacific Command and Central Command, which is the headquarters for the Middle East.
A year ago Bush announced the creation of Africom and has been headquartered for the time being in Stuttgart, Germany.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Friday urged Bush to speak with African leaders about helping people over poverty as well as the lack of basic sanitation of educational opportunities.
"Your visit to African states at this time will be very important and historic," Ban told reporters after meeting with Bush at the White House. "In that regard, I wish you all the best. This is very great opportunities."
It is the second trip to Africa for Bush, and the fifth for his wife, Laura. (Additional reporting by David Alexander, Editing by Jackie Frank)
Showing posts with label Ghana. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ghana. Show all posts
Bush Africa visit met by protest & viewed with distrust
Bush Africa visit seen more about strategy than compassion
By Barry Moody, Reuters, Feb. 15, 2008
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's coming African tour will emphasize the caring side of U.S. policy but it is widely seen as being more about military interests, oil supplies and combating Chinese influence.
Bush is scheduled to start a tour of five nations with a brief stop in Benin on Saturday, although he has threatened to delay the trip because of a legislative battle with Congress.
The five countries -- Tanzania, Ghana, Liberia and Rwanda, as well as Benin -- have been chosen for what are viewed as strong democratic credentials and successful U.S. aid projects.
The centerpiece and longest stop of the tour will be Tanzania, whose leader, President Jakaya Kikwete, is seen by Washington as a poster boy for progressive African government.
Bush, accompanied by his wife Laura, will visit hospitals, schools, AIDS and malaria projects. In Tanzania he will sign the biggest ever grant, of $698 million, under his Millennium Challenge Corp, to fund water, energy and infrastructure.
The MCC is intended to reward good governance and sound economic policies.
Kikwete named a new cabinet this week after the previous prime minister resigned over a corruption probe but Washington sees this as confirmation of the president's anti-graft credentials rather than an embarrassment.
Bush's attempt to anoint some of his more successful policies in Africa in the dying months of his presidency risks being derailed by cynicism over U.S. motives and the same issues, led by Iraq, that have made him unpopular elsewhere.
About 2,000 Muslims marched peacefully through Dar es Salaam on Friday to protest against Bush and his war on terror.
One of the march organizers, Sheikh Mussa Kundecha, told Reuters: "Bush will be here for his own benefit instead of caring about the people of the country."
Student Emmanuel Dickson said earlier: "America and Bush have one policy, to look after their own interests. If he is going to give us money for infrastructure and health ... what does he want in return? He wants to bring forces to Africa and he wants to stop the Chinese from getting a greater hold."
Beijing is now Africa's third biggest trading partner, behind the European Union and the United States, after a huge 30 percent jump in the first 10 months of 2007.
AFRICOM
Analysts say confused U.S. policy on Africa and bad handling of its new Africa command (Africom), particularly premature discussion of basing it on the continent, have alienated regional powers like South Africa and made Washington unpopular.
Bush approved Africom, a new command for Africa to offer both training to African armies and humanitarian work, a year ago. But African opposition has forced it for the moment to shelve plans to base the headquarters on the continent.
Africom has added to Africa's unhappiness over other elements of Bush's post 9/11 campaign against Islamist militants.
U.S. backing for the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia a year ago to prop up a weak transitional government against Islamist insurgents and the subsequent "rendition" of Muslim suspects, including Kenyan nationals, to Ethiopia has caused widespread anger.
Patrick Smith of the Africa Confidential newsletter said U.S. policy "appears to be at sea ... what is the foundation of the policy? Is it a security nexus based on militarization or is it a much more development-oriented policy?"
"There is a sense that Africa has got the fag end of the war on terror and that it has been very badly handled and if anything has diminished the U.S.'s standing in the region with no great benefit in terms of military effect."
There is also a widely held belief around the continent that Bush is trying to counteract growing Asian, especially Chinese, influence and investment and that Washington is only really interested in oil resources in the Gulf of Guinea -- expected to provide 25 percent of its needs by 2015.
"What is on top of Bush's mind is the Chinese. China is worrying to the U.S. It is not only taking markets and alternative trade partnerships ...African countries will no longer need American aid to survive," said Ugandan student Joseph Mwaka.
Houcine Akkari, a retired man in Tunis told Reuters: "The U.S. says it wants to help Africa to boost democracy, reduce poverty and improve governance. But the truth is so different. Bush wants to exploit Africa which is rich in natural resources, without giving anything to Africa." (Additional reporting by Wangui Kanina, Francis Kwera in Kampala, and Sonia Ounissi in Tunis)
By Barry Moody, Reuters, Feb. 15, 2008
DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - President George W. Bush's coming African tour will emphasize the caring side of U.S. policy but it is widely seen as being more about military interests, oil supplies and combating Chinese influence.
Bush is scheduled to start a tour of five nations with a brief stop in Benin on Saturday, although he has threatened to delay the trip because of a legislative battle with Congress.
The five countries -- Tanzania, Ghana, Liberia and Rwanda, as well as Benin -- have been chosen for what are viewed as strong democratic credentials and successful U.S. aid projects.
The centerpiece and longest stop of the tour will be Tanzania, whose leader, President Jakaya Kikwete, is seen by Washington as a poster boy for progressive African government.
Bush, accompanied by his wife Laura, will visit hospitals, schools, AIDS and malaria projects. In Tanzania he will sign the biggest ever grant, of $698 million, under his Millennium Challenge Corp, to fund water, energy and infrastructure.
The MCC is intended to reward good governance and sound economic policies.
Kikwete named a new cabinet this week after the previous prime minister resigned over a corruption probe but Washington sees this as confirmation of the president's anti-graft credentials rather than an embarrassment.
Bush's attempt to anoint some of his more successful policies in Africa in the dying months of his presidency risks being derailed by cynicism over U.S. motives and the same issues, led by Iraq, that have made him unpopular elsewhere.
About 2,000 Muslims marched peacefully through Dar es Salaam on Friday to protest against Bush and his war on terror.
One of the march organizers, Sheikh Mussa Kundecha, told Reuters: "Bush will be here for his own benefit instead of caring about the people of the country."
Student Emmanuel Dickson said earlier: "America and Bush have one policy, to look after their own interests. If he is going to give us money for infrastructure and health ... what does he want in return? He wants to bring forces to Africa and he wants to stop the Chinese from getting a greater hold."
Beijing is now Africa's third biggest trading partner, behind the European Union and the United States, after a huge 30 percent jump in the first 10 months of 2007.
AFRICOM
Analysts say confused U.S. policy on Africa and bad handling of its new Africa command (Africom), particularly premature discussion of basing it on the continent, have alienated regional powers like South Africa and made Washington unpopular.
Bush approved Africom, a new command for Africa to offer both training to African armies and humanitarian work, a year ago. But African opposition has forced it for the moment to shelve plans to base the headquarters on the continent.
Africom has added to Africa's unhappiness over other elements of Bush's post 9/11 campaign against Islamist militants.
U.S. backing for the Ethiopian invasion of Somalia a year ago to prop up a weak transitional government against Islamist insurgents and the subsequent "rendition" of Muslim suspects, including Kenyan nationals, to Ethiopia has caused widespread anger.
Patrick Smith of the Africa Confidential newsletter said U.S. policy "appears to be at sea ... what is the foundation of the policy? Is it a security nexus based on militarization or is it a much more development-oriented policy?"
"There is a sense that Africa has got the fag end of the war on terror and that it has been very badly handled and if anything has diminished the U.S.'s standing in the region with no great benefit in terms of military effect."
There is also a widely held belief around the continent that Bush is trying to counteract growing Asian, especially Chinese, influence and investment and that Washington is only really interested in oil resources in the Gulf of Guinea -- expected to provide 25 percent of its needs by 2015.
"What is on top of Bush's mind is the Chinese. China is worrying to the U.S. It is not only taking markets and alternative trade partnerships ...African countries will no longer need American aid to survive," said Ugandan student Joseph Mwaka.
Houcine Akkari, a retired man in Tunis told Reuters: "The U.S. says it wants to help Africa to boost democracy, reduce poverty and improve governance. But the truth is so different. Bush wants to exploit Africa which is rich in natural resources, without giving anything to Africa." (Additional reporting by Wangui Kanina, Francis Kwera in Kampala, and Sonia Ounissi in Tunis)
More countries join US-led nuclear energy programme
by Michael Adler, AFP, Sept. 16, 2007
VIENNA (AFP) - Eleven countries joined Sunday a US-led initiative to spread atomic power but not technology which can be used to make nuclear weapons.
Australia, Bulgaria, Ghana, Hungary, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Ukraine signed in Vienna a statement of principles for the programme, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP).
It called for the "the expansion of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes worldwide in a safe and secure manner."
GNEP seeks to help states get nuclear fuel, such as uranium, so they do not produce it themselves.
It also aims to promote the use of nuclear reactors that do not present proliferation risks, such as producing plutonium, and to recycle spent nuclear fuel so that plutonium can not be separated out.
Enriched uranium and plutonium can be fuel for reactors but also can be used to make nuclear weapons.
The GNEP started as a US initiative in February 2006 and had its first meeting in May this year in Washington when the United States hosted fellow members China, France, Japan and Russia.
Nuclear power is seen by many as crucial in a world where energy demand is booming since it makes electricity without adding to the greenhouse gases which cause global warming.
The United States is seeking to promote nuclear power while guarding against the danger of the spread of nuclear weapons which arises when states like Iran develop strategic technologies such as uranium enrichment, which makes nuclear reactor fuel but also atom bomb material.
The United States wants GNEP to organize countries that have secure, advanced nuclear capabilities to provide fuel to other nations which agree to use nuclear energy just for power generation.
Their compliance would be monitored by the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Sunday that GNEP had no specific projects yet.
"Our task today is to formally commit to the principles espoused by GNEP and to begin discussions with like-minded countries that seek to develop civilian nuclear power in a safe and secure manner and who, not coincidentally, have been reaching out to us," Bodman said in a speech at the GNEP meeting, which also included 22 candidate partner and observer countries.
Bodman later told reporters that GNEP is "not committed to any (one particular technology)" but is "looking at everything that is available."
"What we are attempting to do is to start looking long-term . . . how we should go about developing nuclear power on a safe and affordable basis" while protecting "against proliferation," Bodman said.
"We have a lot to do here just to get ourselves organized," he added.
Asked if the GNEP initiative was coming too late, with Iran for instance already enriching uranium, Bodman said: "It may have been better to do this 10 years ago and not now."
But "we're trying to do the best we can given the set of circumstances that confront us," Bodman said.
Joining GNEP does not entail obligations, such as giving up the right to enrich uranium, the US energy secretary said.
Dennis Spurgeon, assistant secretary for nuclear energy, said "the idea behind GNEP is countries voluntarily coming together for a common good."
GNEP is "not supplanting the IAEA in terms of safeguards. We'll need them more than ever," Spurgeon said.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told the GNEP meeting that the program is "a major initiative that is badly needed and is very timely."
"We need energy because again without development there is misery, there is conflict, there is war," ElBaradei said.
Some of the new countries, like Lithuania and Poland, a strong coal user, do not yet have nuclear power but want to develop it.
Polish Economy Minister Piotr Wozniak said his nation wanted to "change our energy mix."
VIENNA (AFP) - Eleven countries joined Sunday a US-led initiative to spread atomic power but not technology which can be used to make nuclear weapons.
Australia, Bulgaria, Ghana, Hungary, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Ukraine signed in Vienna a statement of principles for the programme, the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP).
It called for the "the expansion of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes worldwide in a safe and secure manner."
GNEP seeks to help states get nuclear fuel, such as uranium, so they do not produce it themselves.
It also aims to promote the use of nuclear reactors that do not present proliferation risks, such as producing plutonium, and to recycle spent nuclear fuel so that plutonium can not be separated out.
Enriched uranium and plutonium can be fuel for reactors but also can be used to make nuclear weapons.
The GNEP started as a US initiative in February 2006 and had its first meeting in May this year in Washington when the United States hosted fellow members China, France, Japan and Russia.
Nuclear power is seen by many as crucial in a world where energy demand is booming since it makes electricity without adding to the greenhouse gases which cause global warming.
The United States is seeking to promote nuclear power while guarding against the danger of the spread of nuclear weapons which arises when states like Iran develop strategic technologies such as uranium enrichment, which makes nuclear reactor fuel but also atom bomb material.
The United States wants GNEP to organize countries that have secure, advanced nuclear capabilities to provide fuel to other nations which agree to use nuclear energy just for power generation.
Their compliance would be monitored by the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Sunday that GNEP had no specific projects yet.
"Our task today is to formally commit to the principles espoused by GNEP and to begin discussions with like-minded countries that seek to develop civilian nuclear power in a safe and secure manner and who, not coincidentally, have been reaching out to us," Bodman said in a speech at the GNEP meeting, which also included 22 candidate partner and observer countries.
Bodman later told reporters that GNEP is "not committed to any (one particular technology)" but is "looking at everything that is available."
"What we are attempting to do is to start looking long-term . . . how we should go about developing nuclear power on a safe and affordable basis" while protecting "against proliferation," Bodman said.
"We have a lot to do here just to get ourselves organized," he added.
Asked if the GNEP initiative was coming too late, with Iran for instance already enriching uranium, Bodman said: "It may have been better to do this 10 years ago and not now."
But "we're trying to do the best we can given the set of circumstances that confront us," Bodman said.
Joining GNEP does not entail obligations, such as giving up the right to enrich uranium, the US energy secretary said.
Dennis Spurgeon, assistant secretary for nuclear energy, said "the idea behind GNEP is countries voluntarily coming together for a common good."
GNEP is "not supplanting the IAEA in terms of safeguards. We'll need them more than ever," Spurgeon said.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei told the GNEP meeting that the program is "a major initiative that is badly needed and is very timely."
"We need energy because again without development there is misery, there is conflict, there is war," ElBaradei said.
Some of the new countries, like Lithuania and Poland, a strong coal user, do not yet have nuclear power but want to develop it.
Polish Economy Minister Piotr Wozniak said his nation wanted to "change our energy mix."
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