Blair Wants More For Famine Relief

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, lobbying world leaders on his plans to tackle global warming and lift Africa out of poverty, sees President Bush's promise to provide $674 million for famine relief a small step.

Bush aides say the United States wants to ensure that Blair's hosting of this year's economic summit of the world's seven richest industrialized nations and Russia is deemed a success. But Blair has made global warming and dramatically stepped-up aid to Africa the main topics of the July gathering, and Bush opposes most of what the British leader wants to do - or how he wants to do it.

Both sides tried to minimize differences Tuesday as Bush and Blair prepared to confer in the Oval Office and over dinner. Their talks also were expected to touch on Iraq's halting progress toward stability and efforts to turn Iran away from nuclear weapons pursuits.

The White House let it be known the two countries are launching an African famine relief initiative, with the United States to provide $674 million, the British to put in an unknown, but lesser, amount, and both to call on other nations to increase their contributions, too. Primarily aimed at addressing the food needs of 14 million people vulnerable to famine in Ethiopia and Eritrea, some of the money will fund humanitarian relief in Somalia and Djibouti.

There also was talk of an impending agreement among industrial nations to provide the poorest African countries complete relief from the debts they owe multilateral organizations such as the World Bank, the Africa Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund. "We are a significant way toward a deal," Blair said before his meeting with Bush.

With four weeks to go before the summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, Blair suggested he expected no breakthroughs during his Washington visit and still had plenty of time to win the support he needed from Bush and other world leaders.

The prime minister's staunch support for Bush on the Iraq war has prompted criticism of him as lacking influence and has driven down his standing among some Britons. Tuesday's talks were the first since Blair narrowly won re-election in voting that also saw his Labour Party sustain heavy losses.

Blair's support has earned him little reward from the Bush administration. Differences over Mideast peace strategy, Guantanamo Bay detentions and other issues have abounded.

Along with debt relief, Blair wants summit attendees to promise to double their current Africa aid levels, as part of a push to go beyond emergency relief in favor of more comprehensive, long-term help for the continent's problems. The White House has been cool to that idea, arguing the United States has already tripled its Africa aid during Bush's four years in office, to $3.2 billion in 2004.

Blair also wants nations to commit new money to Africa, rather than reallocating existing funds. But even the U.S. famine relief dollars were coming out of an already approved Agriculture Department food aid account and other money recently made available by Congress.

"It is important we deal with the situation in Ethiopia and Eritrea, but obviously, there's a lot more that needs to be dealt with," Blair said.

The Bush administration disagrees with Blair's plan for how to finance debt relief. Blair has proposed raising some of the money by selling bonds on the world's capital markets - an approach Bush dismissed out of hand last week. Bush also opposes a British proposal that the IMF sell some of its massive gold reserves to fund increased aid.

The leaders were perhaps even further apart on global warming.

Blair says "clear and immediate action" to address rising temperatures is one of the world's most pressing priorities. But the Bush administration opposes government-mandated action, arguing there still are questions about global warming and possible causes.

By Jennifer Loven