Bono to discuss Africa with Tony Blair

The Prime Minister is planning to hold breakfast talks on Africa at No10 Downing Street tomorrow with rock stars Bob Geldof and U2 front man Bono. Bono, well known for his Christian faith and activism on issues of justice was a key figure in the Jubilee 2000 campaign to cancel Third World debt. But he was also outspoken in his criticism of Blair before the Iraq invasion. Speaking after a meeting with French President Jacques Chirac to discuss Aids, which Bono described as "the forgotten war", the singer said Blair was "sincerely wrong" in his approach to Iraq. International Development Secretary Baroness Amos, successor to Clare Short, will also attend the meeting with Tony Blair, along with representatives of non-governmental organisations and academics. "This will be an opportunity to take stock of progress on the action plan for Africa agreed at last year's G8 summit," said Mr Blair's official spokesman. This year's G8 summit of the UK, the US, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and Russia takes place in two weeks time in Evian, France. Last year, the leaders agreed on a New Partnership for African Development, (Nepad) which sought to involve the continents' countries more closely in solving their own problems. Source: Ekklesia