allAfrica.com: Africa: Bush Trip: Africa Appreciates The Words, Awaiting The Deeds (Page 1 of 2)

No question, say analysts of varied persuasions across the political spectrum, President George W. Bush has surprised them with the attention he seems to be paying to Africa. Campaigning for the presidency three years ago, Bush said Africa was not one of the "areas of strategic importance," to the U.S. and that given a choice, he would not have sent troops into Rwanda to head off the genocide in 1994.

Now, here he is on the cusp of sending up to 2,000 U.S. troops into Liberia and traveling across the continent holding out the promise of billions of new dollars for the HIV/Aids fight and foreign assistance. He also has a billion dollars for the anti-terror fight - and the head of the United States European Command, General James Jones, says Africa is a potential terrorist breeding ground that will require U.S. bases on the continent.

Oil, as well as terrorism, seems to be an important part of the president's new-found Africa awareness. Currently, the United States imports about 18 percent of its oil from Africa - most of it from Nigeria, Angola and Gabon. By some estimates, oil imports from Africa are expected to grow to 25 percent over the next 10 years. But he dismisses the idea that his Africa policy is driven by oil interests: "Well, there are conspiracy theorists everywhere, I guess."

Tuesday in Senegal, at the start of his six-day trip to five African nations, Bush will meet with at least seven African heads of state and government - "West African leaders that are from small democracies," said National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, last week. "The countries that will come together with President Wade and President Bush in Senegal are...countries that are trying to do the right thing."

Both Liberia's current tumult and concerns with terrorism will be high on the agenda of those talks. Many experts think the dispatch of U.S. troops in Liberia is likely, but the tough question for the talks in Senegal is what to do about the war crimes indictment of Liberian president Charles Taylor and international warrant for his arrest. Taylor has the opportunity to quit office and gain asylum in Nigeria but he may continue to fear the possibility of facing the criminal court in Sierra Leone; that, and the danger he personally faces from anti-government rebels, may cause Taylor to believe he would be best off continuing to fight.

State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, Monday backed away from acknowledging any administration efforts to work out a deal on the indictment. "We recognize the work of the court, but how this works out in the end is going to be a matter between Taylor and the prosecutor."

President Bush also gives a major address on race - "a Message of Compassion" - during a visit to Senegal's Goree Island, infamous as a European slave pen and port. "The President is going to talk about and acknowledge what slavery has meant to Africa and has meant to America," says Condoleezza Rice. "Africa is part of America's history," she said. "Europeans and Africans came to this country together, Africans in chains. And slavery was, of course, America's birth defect. And we've been trying to deal with the consequences of it ever since."

African leaders like the attention they've been getting in the past two years. At the White House, Bush has met with 22 African heads of state since he took office. But while his welcome on the continent will certainly be courteous, there will also be questions, some of them prickly.

Delicate talks in South Africa

The war with Iraq dominates perceptions of his tenure in many capitals. South Africa, considered by the Bush administration to be a crucial partner in Africa, took the lead in objecting to the war. President Thabo Mbeki openly opposed Bush and the strain still shows in U.S. - South African relations. And the issue may haunt Bush across Africa. About 50 protesters marched in Senegal's capital, Dakar, on Monday, expressing anger over the U.S. president's visit; but their issue was not Africa policy but Iraq and the Middle East.

"For anybody, especially the leader of a superstate, to act outside the United Nations is something that must be condemned by everybody," said former South African president Nelson Mandela - who quite conspicuously will not be in South Africa when Bush visits.

On another sensitive front, the U.S. has frozen military aid to 35 countries which have declined to sign agreements promising not to bring American citizens before the International War Crimes Tribunal. South Africa is one of them.

Nonetheless, good relations with South Africa are considered vital. U.S. exports to the former apartheid nation are larger than those to Russia even though Russia's population is 3.5 times larger than South Africa. And South Africa is playing an increasingly significant role in economies across the continent. "South Africa has been a leader," said President Bush during a briefing last week. "President Mbeki is a leader. When you think about the continent of Africa, you think about leadership, you think about President Mbeki."

Bush and Mbeki will first talk to each other alone for about an hour on Wednesday morning. They will be joined for a second hour of discussion by South African and U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Colin Powell and South African Foreign Minister Dlamini-Zuma. After hosting a luncheon for Bush, Mbeki will leave for Mozambique and the annual African Union summit there.

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