Excerpt:
Yet the media continue with their eagerness to unveil the truth about the uranium documents, mostly to shed light on why the British and U.S. governments were so willing to accept a shockingly bad forgery as fact.
A British Telegraph journalist in Niger recently reported that the former U.S. assistant secretary of state for African affairs, Herman Cohen, had told Niger’s president to stay quiet on the uranium issue. Diatta is quick to address the potentially damaging media report, pointing out that Cohen is also a lobbyist for the Nigerien government and frequently travels to Niger to brief the government on his work in Washington.
“I know Ambassador Cohen very well,” Diatta said. “Ambassador Cohen went as a private person, not as an official of the U.S. government. It is normal for him to go to Niger and speak about his job with my government.”
The former U.S. ambassador to Gabon, Joseph Wilson, is another key player who helped debunk the claim that Niger sold uranium to Iraq. In 2002, he was sent by the U.S. government to check out the uranium allegations, and he reported back that it was highly unlikely that any such transaction had taken place—a fact apparently not absorbed by the White House until after the president’s State of the Union address.
“I know [Wilson] very well also,” said Diatta. “And you know, something very strange—when he went to Niger in February 2002, I was myself in Niger and we had a meeting in my house and we spoke about this matter. So, it was not a secret mission. Everyone spoke about this secret CIA mission. I don’t understand why there is so much noise about this visit to Niger.
“Ambassador Wilson was requested by the CIA to go to Niger, yes, but he accomplished this for his government without any problem. He told everyone that he was sent by the U.S. government on the uranium issue, without any secrecy,” Diatta said.
Above all, Diatta is keen to explain that Niger is “not just uranium.”
“Niger is also this beautiful desert we have, it is the beautiful views we have along the River Niger, it is ancient cities with a beautiful mosque built in the 16th century. We invite you to come there and see for yourselves. We want Americans to know that the recent controversy has not affected the good relations between our two countries.”
Diatta said that when the media rushed toward the uranium controversy, they overlooked one important point: Niger was one of only two African nations to send troops to help with the liberation of Kuwait during the first Gulf War.
“I think people have forgotten this, but our participation was appreciated by the U.S. government at the time,” Diatta said. “This should not be forgotten. We were allies of the U.S. and we remain so now. That is what is most important.”
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Even then, everyone was distorting W's words .. "sought" greencake uranium.........and so the spin and lies still persist to today ......jeesh.
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Former wife, Jacqueline Wilson, lived in Bethesda, MD, as of '01
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Executives of the Africa Channel, a new cable service, talk to Jacqueline Wilson, an adviser to the president of Gabon. (6-23-05)
More than 2,000 people, including six African presidents, gathered in Baltimore yesterday in the second day of a four-day summit on trade with the struggling continent.
The Marriott Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore's Inner Harbor East was host to the fifth U.S.-Africa Business Summit, sponsored by the Corporate Council on Africa. The gathering also included other high-ranking government officials and representatives from U.S. companies already investing in or interested in doing business in Africa.
Armando Emilio Guebuza, president of Mozambique, one of the African nations leading the promotion of trade with the United States, described the event as "a significant achievement."The summit comes at a time of increasing focus on the problems of poverty and the need for economic development in Africa.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair met with President Bush in Washington this month to urge a doubling of aid from industrial nations to Africa.
Some of the world's most famous rock stars are joining in a Live 8 series of concerts next month to turn a spotlight on the need for aid to the continent. And Bono, of the Irish rock group U2, is spearheading a campaign called One to fight poverty and AIDS in Africa and elsewhere. Assistance for the continent also will be discussed at the Group of Eight summit in Scotland next month.
The council chose Baltimore for the event because of the city and state's pursuit of economic opportunities in Africa, including last year's visit to Ghana and South Africa by a contingent led by Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele.
"There's been a unique level of involvement with the state and the city," said Stephen Hayes, president and chief executive officer of the Corporate Council on Africa
"This is the first time a city has been so heavily involved" in the goals of the organization, said Hayes, who noted increased attendance this year at the biennial summit.
The summit continues through tomorrow with workshops on business, agriculture and tourism. It also provided an opportunity for African artists to showcase colorful handmade blankets, clothes, jewelry and candles.
Outside the host hotel, about 100 people holding bright neon green and yellow signs and American flags protested the presence of the president of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, who spoke during the conference. He faces an election Oct. 30 in a nation torn by ethnic violence.
Inside, the German automaker DaimlerChrysler AG presented a $500,000 check to President Guebuza of Mozambique. The money was donated by DaimlerChrysler as sponsor of Club 21 USA, an organization that pushes for park preservation, tourism and employment opportunities in Africa.
The initiative is meant to spur tourism, because studies have concluded that for every eight visitors to Mozambique and surrounding countries one job is created. DaimlerChrysler is the first sponsor of the organization, which aims to find 20 additional sponsors next year.
Guebuza also announced the launch of a partnership between a Mozambican cashew company and SunTree, a California-Arizona company. SunTree will package and distribute a new brand of cashews, Zambique, in major grocery chains in the United States, including Safeway, Costco and Trader Joe's.
"It gives substance to the goals to promote trade and agribusiness," Guebuza said.
Other presidents of African countries attending the summit were from Zambia, Madagascar, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. and the lieutenant governor yesterday also announced the establishment of a sister ports' agreement between Maryland and the port of Banjul in Gambia and the port of Takoradi in Ghana to promote transcontinental trade.
Also at the summit, Marathon Oil Corp. presented results from the first phase of an $8.3 million investment to eradicate malaria and disease-carrying mosquitoes in Equatorial Guinea. The Houston energy company's initiative, called the Bioko Island Malaria Control Project, is part of a five-year plan to benefit the country and also serve as a model for other organizations.
The Corporate Council on Africa was founded in 1993 and represents about 200 companies that make up 85 percent of U.S. investment in Africa. The last biennial summit took place in Washington in 2003.
