U.S.

Clinton Africa-Bound To Boost Mandela

August 25, 2000 / 12:44 AM EDT / AP

President Clinton's weekend trip to Africa will take him to opposite sides of the continent as he offers encouragement to Nigeria's democracy and assesses what may be the collapse of peace efforts among Burundi's warring factions.

The trip is Clinton's second to sub-Saharan Africa and likely his last as president. Although brief, it is weighted with symbolism.

When Clinton last visited the continent in 1998, he made a point of flying right over Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and a regional power in western Africa, to protest the corrupt and brutal military regime then in power.

This time, he will make joint appearances with the new civilian leader, President Olesegun Obasanjo.

"The visit to Nigeria signals our strong support for the most important democratic transition in Africa since the collapse of apartheid and underscores the opportunities opened by Nigeria's shift from pariah to partner," White House National Security Adviser Sandy Berger said Thursday.

Clinton also plans a one-day stop in Tanzania, on the eastern coast, where former South African President Nelson Mandela is trying to broker an end to ethnic warfare between Hutus and Tutsis in neighboring Burundi.

Mandela has been mediating peace talks since December and invited Clinton and other world leaders to witness the signing of a peace accord in Arusha, Tanzania.

The White House had hoped the visit would be as cheery as Clinton's Nigeria stop — a chance to bless Mandela's work and to put his imprimatur on the long process of ending horrific ethnic fighting in eastern Africa.

Six years ago, in Rwanda, more than 500,000 Tutsis were killed in massacres orchestrated by Rwanda's extremist Hutu government.

But Tutsi leaders have balked at signing a power-sharing accord by the Monday deadline set by Mandela and it is not clear whether there will be any peace signing.

The White House said Clinton will go to Arusha anyway to show solidarity with Mandela's efforts.

During two days in Nigeria, Clinton will congratulate Obasanjo for his efforts at reform and encourage Obasanjo to do more. The White House said Clinton will discuss ways to improve the efficiency of Nigerian oil production and ways to ease the inequities in a nation with vast natural resources and some of the world's poorest people.

"There are critical issues that go beyond political reform and even economic reform towards the issues that are confronting Nigeria and the continent," White House Chief of Staff John Podesta said.

Among those is the threat of infectious diseases such as AIDS, which kills 6,000 people a day in Africa and has orphaned some 15 percent of children in the worst-affected cities.

Clinton may also propose a write-off of some of Nigeria's foreign debt but he would need congressional approval for any U.S. debt forgiveness.

After a joint news conference with Obasanjo on Saturday, Clinton will meet with regional leaders and then address thNigerian legislature. Later, he plans a visit to a women's development center and meetings with U.S. and Nigerian business executives.

Clinton is not scheduled to meet with human rights activists critical of Obasanjo's 15-month-old regime, although Berger said Clinton will raise the subject.

Obasanjo has sent mixed signals on human rights and corruption. He ordered his military to raze a restive town in the oil-producing delta, and after an initial hard push against government corruption, some of his own aides have reverted to the old economics of influence peddling and inside deals.

"Given the abuse of government over ... 30 of the last 40 years in Nigeria, the thievery, the thuggery, the divisiveness, that has been fostered by government, he inherits a pretty tough situation," Berger said.

Clinton will also address a constitutional crisis in Nigeria, where several northern states have imposed strict Islamic law, Berger said.

The White House scrapped plans for stops either in the Muslim-dominated North or the Christian-dominated oil-producing regions in the South because of political sensitivities. Clinton's short schedule would not allow for two stops and the Clinton administration eventually decided not to slight leaders of either region.

Instead, Clinton will confine himself to the relatively antiseptic political capital of Abuja in the less-populated center of the country. He does plan a short side visit to a village about a half-hour from Abuja, but still far from the opposing seats of religious influence.