Posted on 06/23/2003 10:11:31 AM PDT by Constitution Day
United States President George Bush is to meet President Thabo Mbeki on July 9, a government official has said.
Bush's visit would be part of a tour of Africa that had been planned for January, but was postponed during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.
"I don't know when (Bush) is arriving in South Africa," presidential spokesperson Bheki Khumalo said on Sunday.
"All I know is that he is meeting the president on the morning of the 9th. They will have lunch together, after which (Mbeki) will fly to Maputo for the African Union summit."
Details of the tour - during which Bush will also travel to Senegal, Nigeria and Botswana - have been shrouded in secrecy.
A US embassy spokesperson declined to say when Bush would be arriving in South Africa or the other countries.
Last week, a Senegalese official said Bush would visit the former French colony on July 7 and 8.
Last month Bush signed into law a $15-billion plan to help combat HIV/Aids in Africa and the Caribbean. The plan would triple over five years American spending on fighting the disease in these regions.
Published on the Web by IOL on 2003-06-23 06:21:00
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