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Accra: President George W. Bush reassured Africa on Wednesday that the United States was not planning to build new military bases there and played down the risk of rivalry with China for influence on the continent.
Speaking in Ghana on the fourth leg of a five-nation African tour, Bush said the US military command for Africa (Africom) created last year was intended to help African leaders solve the continent's crises, not boost the US military presence there.
"We do not contemplate adding new bases," Bush said at a joint news conference with Ghana's President John Kufuor.
"I know there are rumours in Ghana: 'All Bush is doing is coming to try to convince you to put a big military base here.' That's baloney. Or, as we say in Texas, that's bull," Bush said.
The Bush administration created Africom with the aim of bolstering security on the continent, already a major supplier of crude oil to the American market.
US officials talked initially of plans to move the Africom headquarters to Africa, but African opposition led Washington to change course. Bush said the United States could still put "some kind of office" representing Africom on the continent. "We haven't made our minds up. It's a new concept," he said.
A base for 1,800 US troops already exists in Djibouti.
Bush said the US and China, whose growing influence in Africa is seen by some Western diplomats as undermining efforts to encourage good governance, could both pursue opportunities there without stoking rivalry.
China has ramped up its investment across Africa in recent years in return for access to oil, metals and other raw materials to fuel its rapidly expanding economy.
"I don't view Africa as zero sum for China and the United States. I think we can pursue agendas without creating a great sense of competition," Bush said.
"Do I view China as a fierce competitor on the continent of Africa? No I don't."
Bush met Kufuor in a former slave fort by the Atlantic Ocean, which millions of Africans crossed in chains on their way to the Americas. Thousands lined the streets to greet him, including children waving Ghana's green, yellow and red flag.
Ghana's thriving economy, built on gold and cocoa exports and the promise of oil production within three years, and its stable democracy that stands out in volatile West Africa, has made it a darling of Washington and other donors.
Bush today arrives in Liberia - Africa's first republic, formed by freed slaves from America in 1847. It has already offered to host Africom.
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