[G-8] ...feels heat to end African poverty

From the Tucson Citizen

The Associated Press

EDINBURGH, Scotland - Activists kept up pressure on leaders of the world's richest nations yesterday to lift Africa out of poverty, but Britain's Treasury chief said those who believe human misery can be eliminated "with the stroke of a pen" may be disappointed by the results of this week's G-8 summit.
The Make Poverty History campaign launched around the summit has been endorsed by the Dalai Lama, Pope Benedict XVI and Nelson Mandela, along with scores of others around the world.

They have something of an ally in British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who holds the G-8 presidency and hosts the three-day summit opening today at nearby Gleneagles. He has made Africa and climate change the central themes of Britain's G8 presidency, and he describes global warming as "probably the most serious threat we face."

Although the leaders appear ready to wipe out $40 billion worth of debt owed by 18 of the world's poorest countries, President Bush has not accepted Blair's call for a massive increase in aid to Africa and seems unlikely to back British ideas about urgent action on climate control.

An additional complication for the summit is the lingering bad blood between Britain and European Union heavyweights France and Germany over a ferocious dispute about spending at last month's EU summit.

In addition to the proposal to double aid for Africa by 2010, Blair's Commission for Africa has also recommended a second $25 billion increase in aid to Africa, to $75 billion annually, by 2015.