Africa: Rice for Africa?

If Condoleezza Rice's testimony this week at her Senate confirmation hearing as secretary of state is an indicator of the Bush administration's plans for Africa, Africans and the human rights community should be worried, says this commentary from the Baltimore Sun newspaper in the US. "In his first four years, President Bush surprised Africa watchers by reaching out to the continent's leaders, giving priority to several African issues that included development assistance and HIV/AIDS, becoming engaged in negotiations to end the civil war in southern Sudan and declaring attacks on civilians in Sudan's Darfur province to be genocide. But many observers credit these efforts to Secretary of State Colin L. Powell, and there are fears that with his departure, the Bush administration's interest in Africa will wane. "