By Deborah Charles and Tabassum Zakaria
ACCRA (Reuters) - Ghanaian President John Kufuor greetedU.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday in a former slavefort overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, which millions of Africanscrossed in chains on their way to the Americas.
Bush, on the fourth leg of a five-nation tour that will endin nearby Liberia, was due to unveil a plan to fight neglectedtropical diseases that cause misery for millions of people onthe poorest continent.
Thousands lined the streets to greet Bush and schoolchildren in uniforms waved Ghana's green, yellow and red flag.
Kufuor and Bush, both due to step down after elections duethis year, walked down a red carpet together before beginning ameeting at Osu Castle.
The imposing former trading fort was built by Europeancolonists and is now more generally known as "The Castle" --the seat of government in the former British "Gold Coast"colony.
Ghana's thriving economy, built on gold and cocoa exportsand the promise of oil production within three years, and itsstable democracy that stands out in volatile West Africa, hasmade it a darling of Washington and other donors.
History, and a string of accessible former slave tradingforts from which captive Africans boarded boats through a "doorof no return", have also made it a draw for African Americansseeking their ancestral roots.
During his tour, Bush has backed efforts to solve crises inKenya and Darfur.
But his itinerary, taking in Benin, Tanzania and Rwanda,has sought to highlight success stories on a continent oftenportrayed as a morass of conflict, coups, corruption andfamine.
Bush's support for multi-billion-dollar anti-malaria andanti-AIDS projects in Africa has earned him an unusually warmreception there despite widespread condemnation of his foreignpolicy toward Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.
HELP TO FIGHT DISEASE
While in Ghana, the U.S. leader planned to announce a planto help fight neglected tropical diseases like elephantitis,river blindness, hook worm and round worm, a White Houseofficial said.
Ghana, stable for more than a decade after a period ofmilitary rule, is a leading recipient of U.S. aid in Africa,and gets $547 million (281 million pounds) in U.S. assistanceunder a five-year anti-poverty programme managed by the U.S.Millennium Challenge Corporation.
"Under President Bush, Africa has got more from U.S.foreign policy than any previous American presidency," GhanaianForeign Minister Akwasi Osei-Adjei told Reuters in an interviewbefore Bush's arrival.
But Osei-Adjei said Ghana would not host any increased U.S.military presence on the continent under the U.S. militarycommand for Africa (Africom), created last year by Washingtonwith a view to strengthening the U.S. presence in Africa.
U.S. officials talked initially of plans to move theAfricom headquarters to Africa, but African opposition ledWashington to change course and say that Africom will not bringany more U.S. troops or bases to the continent.
A base for 1,800 U.S. troops exists in Djibouti.
On Thursday, Bush visits Liberia -- Africa's firstrepublic, formed by freed slaves from America in 1847. It hasoffered to host Africom, and Bush says he'll consider thisseriously.
(Additional reporting by Kwasi Kpodo, editing by AlistairThomson)
