Bush meets with oil leaders

2002-09-13 17:29

New York - Against a backdrop of promised peace in Africa and possible war in the Persian Gulf, President George W Bush was meeting with 11 African leaders on Friday.

Bush was to meet privately with the leaders of West and Central African nations before returning to Washington from the UN General Assembly, which he challenged on Thursday to confront Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

A senior administration official who briefed reporters on Bush's agenda for Friday's talks said he wanted to try to shore up the fragile peace agreement between Rwanda and Congo, and more broadly encourage "responsible African leadership to pursue the political and economic and social well being of their people".

Bush is also laying the groundwork for his first trip to Africa, which is planned for early next year.

Divided among three separate sessions, the leaders of these countries were meeting with the president: Republic of Congo, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, South Africa, and Sao Tome and Principe, an island nation off West Africa.

Secure oil

The Democratic Republic of Congo signed a peace agreement on July 30 with Rwanda to end a four-year, six-nation war that has sown instability on the African continent. But each country recently has accused the other of violating the pact.

Some 15% of oil imported by the United States is from West Africa, and Friday's meetings came as the Bush administration is seeking secure oil ahead of a threatened conflict with Iraq, a major exporter.

President Fradique de Menezes of Sao Tome and Principe announced late last month that his country, a former Portuguese colony believed to be sitting on massive and largely untapped oil reserves, had reached agreement with the United States for establishment of a US naval base there.

The United States has not confirmed any plans for the base, although a US general led an American delegation to Sao Tome this summer for talks on the subject.

Salih Booker, director of the advocacy group Africa Action, said he fears that Bush's interest in Africa's oil will trump his stated commitment to promoting democracy and economic development on the continent.

Oil defines US relations in Africa

"Oil largely defines US relations in Africa," Booker said. "Those countries that have oil, regardless of their democratic credentials, will get first service in line over other African countries."

During their June summit in Canada, Bush and leaders of the world's largest industrialised nations pledged to give Africa half of whatever increased amounts they spend on foreign aid. They also promised to help establish an African peacekeeping force to address ongoing conflicts throughout the continent.

"We are now waiting for the concrete results of all this," President Denis Sassou-Nguesso of the Republic of Congo said on Thursday, in advance of his meeting with Bush. "But we are not passively waiting." - Sapa-AP

- SAPA