It's Friday, Must Be The White House

04 Mar 2002
Fresh from the Grammy Awards, Bono dropped into Washington on Friday to Meetwith U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Speaking to Reuters News Agency after having lunch with Ms Rice, Bono saidhe believed that she "sees the linkage" between fighting poverty and the waron terrorism.

"She spoke very passionately herself about the subjects and knows anextraordinary amount about them for somebody so busy with the war againstterrorism, and oddly enough, she sees the linkage," he said.

The anti-terror war has raised the profile of the campaign to alleviateglobal poverty rather than distracted from it, he said.

"It's got centre stage," he said. "In Africa, there are 10 potentialAfghanistans, so it (the issue) is now strategic. It's not philanthropy,it's strategic."

Bono has been working for several years with aid agencies and campaigngroups in a bid to cancel the unpayable debts of the worlds poorestcountries.

Later on Friday Bono met African-American leaders, religious groups anddebt-relief campaigners to rally support for his cause. He said that withWhite House encouragement, he was seeking to enlist the "faith-based"community in the debt relief campaign.

"Our movement is an unusual combination of church and street," he said.

Speaking to a group of advocates for Africa at the headquarters of thecharity, Africare, in Washington, DC., he said, "It's your melody, I'm gonnatry and sing it."

He described the Aids pandemic in Africa and the grinding poverty affectingso many nations in Africa, "an emergency". Africa has been ignored and "timeis running out," he told the group.

He believes his celebrity status can help open doors and cites interest fromconservative Republicans in the U.S. Congress as well as interest fromcorporate America.

"Give us a package for Africa to be announced at the G8 and we'll be in thephoto," he said, explaining that one thing his involvement helps with "isyour crap PR."

More on this story at
allafrica.com

More on the campaign to cancel the debts of the poorest countries at
www.jubileeusa.org
and at
www.jubileedebtcampaign.org.uk

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