THE US: Bono pressed President George Bush yesterday to set aside more money for AIDS initiatives, but came away disappointed after a face-to-face talk with the President at the White House.
"We had a good old row," Bono said of his meeting. "What I just can't agree with him on is the numbers."
Congress is weighing a $2 billion spending request for next year that will provide the first instalment for Mr Bush's five-year, $15 billion plan to combat AIDS.
Bono said the AIDS epidemic had reached crisis proportions, with millions of children in Africa orphaned by the virus.
He urged a US commitment of $3 billion for the fiscal year that begins in October - an increase of $1 billion over the plan Mr Bush has backed.
"I'm not here peddling a cause," Bono said at a news conference at the St John's Episcopal Church across from the White House. "Seven thousand people dying a day is not a cause. It's an emergency."
Bono was flanked by three bishops representing the Catholic, Episcopal and Evangelical Lutheran denominations, as well as leaders of humanitarian programmes and Ms Agnes Nyamya, a Ugandan woman with HIV who Mr Bush met this year during his visit to Africa.
Mr Bush's AIDS initiative, unveiled in his State of the Union address in January, would provide anti-viral treatment to HIV people in Africa and the Caribbean who cannot afford it. It would also help children who have lost one or both parents, and would work toward prevention with programmes aimed at sexual abstinence, education and the promotion of condom use.
The President has held back his support for the full $3 billion for 2004 because of a concern that a system is not yet in place to use the money effectively, White House officials have said.
"You need to make sure the infrastructure is in place for those resources to be spent," White House spokesman Mr Scott McClellan told reporters.
Although Bono described himself as "depressed" at failing to bring Mr Bush around to his point of view, he felt the President was "sincere" about carrying out his promises on the AIDS initiatives. - (Reuters)