President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair said last night they were close to a plan that would cancel 100 per cent of Africa's debt, while failing to agree on Mr Blair's ambitious proposal to dramatically increase new assistance for Africa.
At a news conference after their talks, the two leaders said they hoped to present the plan to leaders at a Group of Eight summit next month in Gleneagles, Scotland.
Both leaders said only those countries who stamped out corruption would benefit. Mr Bush said "highly indebted developing countries that are on the path to reform should not be burdened by mountains of debt."
"I see we've got a fantastic opportunity, presuming that the countries in Africa make the right decisions. Nobody wants to give money to a country that's corrupt, where leaders take money and put it in their pocket," Mr Bush said.
Mr Blair said, "We're well on the way to agreement" on African debt relief and that once the United States and Britain reach a common position, then "we need to get the agreement of others."
The two leaders were not specific, but a senior Mr Bush administration official said it applied to debt held by international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Paying the interest on billions of dollars in debt is cited by experts as a major obstacle to the ability of African governments to spend money for their peoples' education, health care and other social needs.
Mr Blair failed to enlist Mr Bush's support on a proposal to give Africa as much as $50 billion a year by making long-term aid commitments that would allow poor countries to raise money on global capital markets.
Mr Blair also got no concession from Mr Bush on his campaign for a global commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming. Mr Bush said he was investing millions of dollars in climate change research and taking other steps to address the problem.
"We want to know more about it," said Mr Bush, who withdrew the United States from the Kyoto treaty aimed at attacking the problem early in his first term.