WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Fresh from the Grammy awards, U2 singer Bono pressed
his case for African debt relief with U.S. national security adviser
Condoleezza Rice on Friday, and said “she sees the linkage” between fighting
poverty and the war on terrorism.
Bono told Reuters he had lunch with Rice at the White House as part of his
effort to fight third world debt and poverty. He is due to visit Africa next
month on a fact-finding tour.
“She spoke very passionately herself about the subjects and knows an
extraordinary amount about them for somebody so busy with the war against
terrorism, and oddly enough, she sees the linkage,” he said.
The anti-terror war has raised the profile of his campaign rather than
distracted from it, he said.
“It’s got center stage,” he said. “In Africa, there are 10 potential
Afghanistans, so it (the issue) is now strategic. It’s not philanthropy,
it’s strategic.”
The White House has been sympathetic to expanding debt relief, but its
proposals are caught up in a dispute with Europe over World Bank aid to poor
countries.
Bono and the rest of the Irish rock band U2 opened the Grammy recording
industry awards ceremony on Wednesday night, winning four awards including
record of the year.
Bono, whose real name is Paul Hewson, was in Washington on Friday to meet
African-American leaders, religious groups and debt-relief campaigners to
rally support for his cause.
Bono said that with White 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.
Reuters 2002. All rights reserved.
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