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Bush faces protests in South Africa
George Bush has been confronted by a wave of anti-US sentiment in South Africa, on the second leg of his five-day tour of the continent.
Bush and South African leader Thabo Mbeki have met to discuss the threat from Aids, the war on terrorism, trade, and the crisis next door in Zimbabwe.
But Washington's decision to go to war in Iraq has cast a shadow over the visit.
Dozens of South Africans protested outside the US embassy in Pretoria and the consulates in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
South Africa's generally good relations with the US were also dealt a blow by the Bush administration's decision to end military aid to 35 countries, including South Africa, that opposed the US demand for immunity for Americans in the International Criminal Court.
Continued tensions in war-torn Liberia also vied for Bush's attention. He said he had promised the US would help enforce a temporary ceasefire and to allow for a peaceful transition of power in the West African country.
"We are now in the process of determining what that means," he said when asked if such participation meant US troops.
Bush has said that Liberian President Charles Taylor must step down. Taylor has accepted an offer of asylum in Nigeria, but said he would only leave after a peacekeeping force is sent in to keep order.
Nelson Mandela is conspicuously absent from Bush's schedule.
Mandela has been a harsh and outspoken critic of Bush for leading the war against Iraq without support from the United Nations.
Administration officials have said Bush's time was being reserved for current African heads of state.
He is due in Botswana tomorrow, in Uganda on Friday and in Nigeria on Saturday - all allies in the war on terrorism.
http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_798157.html