By Manoah Esipisu

Botswana’s president said he feared US operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were diverting crucial money Washington has pledged to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa. "(US President George W) Bush has promised (billions of dollars) but unfortunately he is diverting most of it to his war in the Middle East," said President Festus Mogae in an interview at the Commonwealth summit in Nigeria. He said Africa had begun receiving a steady flow of cash from the United States and other Western donors, but it was not yet enough.

Botswana has the highest AIDS rate in the world with close to 40 per cent of adults infected. Across the continent an estimated 26.6 million are infected - more than the rest of the world put together. Bush has promised a US$15 billion five-year plan to combat AIDS, especially in Africa. But he came under fire from Aids activists when he asked the House of Representatives for only US$2 billion next year US$1 billion less than expected for the programme.

Bush has insisted he will find the full US$15 billion. Mogae said Africans must try to combat the disease as best they could with whatever resources came in: "We can’t let ourselves die and do nothing about it."

The HIV virus has shown little signs of abating in Botswana, a country of 1.7 million people, and threatens to destroy the economy which is still one of the richest in southern Africa. At least six million people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries need anti-retroviral drugs to combat the disease. But only 300,000 to 400,000 are receiving them.

Botswana, which has one of the most developed AIDS programmes in Africa, was the first country in the world to offer anti-retrovirals free. In Zambia only 7,000 people are on a government anti-retroviral programme.

Mogae said African countries faced another problem a critical shortage of doctors, nurses, and pharmaceutical technicians to mount a successful battle against AIDS.

He said the main message in the fight against the disease must remain prevention. "The priority is the preventive message, postpone sexual activity as long as one can because there is a killer on the prowl," he said.

On other issues, Mogae backed the immediate return of Botswana’s neighbour Zimbabwe to the Commonwealth group, where its progress in democracy and governance could be monitored. Zimbabwe’s suspension has dominated the group’s Abuja summit. "If we simply keep him (Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe) away, what good are we doing by that?" Mogae said.