Nairobi/Cotonou - US President George W Bush began in Benin Saturday a six-day Africa visit that will also take him to Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia. Bush met with the president of the western African country, Thomas Yayi Boni, in Cotonou and stressed the necessity of ending the ethnic conflict in Kenya.
Bush said he is sending US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Kenya on Monday to support negotiations mediated by former United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan.
Post-election violence has threatened the stability and economic well-being of one of Africa's most successful democracies. The stalemate over the disputed polls in December sparked a wave of violence that has left more than 1,000 dead and more than 300,000 displaced.
Bush said Rice would stress to the participants in the talks "that there ought to be a power sharing agreement" and an end to violence.
Before heading for Tanzania Bush stressed US support for the fight against malaria: "I stand here as a friend and partner ... prepared to fight sickness and poverty."
At the top of the US president's agenda is Africa's vital role in US strategic security interests - a role that he says can best be guaranteed by supporting economic development and fighting the AIDS and malaria epidemics that undermine Africa's welfare.
"We have seen that conditions on the other side of the world can have a direct impact on our own security," Bush said Thursday. "We also know that if Africa grows in freedom and prosperity and justice, its people will choose a better course."
