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G8 has '24hrs to restore faith'
08/06/2007 07:23 - (SA)
Heiligendamm - Leaders of the
world's major powers will turn their attention to Africa on
Friday and are widely expected to announce a $60bn pledge
to fight Aids and other killer diseases.
The heads of six African nations will press the needs of the
poorest continent when they join G8 leaders on the final day of
their summit, which produced an agreement on Thursday to pursue
"substantial" cuts in greenhouse gases to combat global warming.
"G8 leaders have just over 24 hours to restore faith in a
promise that represents life or death for millions of people
across the world," said Stop Aids Campaign co-ordinator Steve Cockburn.
The G8 countries wrangled late into Thursday night about
specifics on aid for Africa but were expected to broadly
recommit themselves to pledges made at a 2005 summit in Scotland
when they said they would double development funding by 2010.
Two sources in the Group of Eight leading industrialised
nations said officials at the summit venue in the German Baltic
resort of Heiligendamm were close to agreeing on a $60bn
pledge to combat Aids, malaria and tuberculosis.
But campaigners for Africa said a $60bn pledge would
fall short of UN targets.
Two leading campaigners, rock stars Bono and Bob Geldof, put
pressure on G8 summit host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and
her fellow leaders from the United States, Britain, Canada,
France, Italy, Japan and Russia.
'We cannot risk being let down by the G8 again'
"The chancellor has asked us to trust her and we are
tempted, but we cannot risk being let down by the G8 again,"
said Bono.
Officials were also tackling an impasse over Kosovo's future
late on Thursday, with France pushing a plan to delay a UN
vote on the majority ethnic Albanian province's independence in
exchange for Russia agreeing not to veto the outcome.
Russia backs Serbia's insistence it should retain
sovereignty over the province, which rebelled against Belgrade's
rule in 1998-9. The West regards independence as inevitable and
fears delay will stoke violence in the southern Serbian region.
Officials were also discussing Iran and were likely to
confirm plans to back "further measures" - in other words more
UN sanctions - against Tehran if it continues to reject UN
demands to halt uranium enrichment in its nuclear programme.
On Thursday, G8 leaders agreed to pursue substantial but
unspecified cuts in greenhouse gases and work with the United
Nations to clinch a new deal to fight global warming by 2009.
The agreement binds the world's largest polluter, the United
States, more closely into international efforts to curb the
gases scientists say are causing dangerous changes to world
weather patterns.
But it does not commit the G8 nations to the firm emissions
reduction targets that Merkel had wanted.
Turning the tables on Bush
US President George W Bush has refused to sign up to
numerical targets before rising economic powers like China and
India make similar pledges. Convincing them to join the UN
process will be crucial to halting global warming.
Russian President Vladimir Putin turned the tables on Bush
by suggesting the United States use a Russian-controlled radar
instead of US anti-missile hardware in central Europe.
At a meeting with Bush, Putin proposed the United States and
Russia should jointly use a radar in Azerbaijan as part of an
anti-missile shield that would protect all of Europe.
In his comments to reporters, Bush did not directly mention
the radar plan which may have taken the White House by surprise.
"He made some interesting suggestions," said Bush.
Washington has said it wants to deploy 10 interceptor
missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic as defence
against projectiles launched by what it calls "rogue" states
like Iran.
Putin vowed last week to target Europe if Washington pressed
ahead with its central European missile shield plan. Washington
has accused Russia of being unco-operative but Putin's plan would
seem to undermine that criticism, analysts said.
- Reuters
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