By Deborah Charles and Tabassum Zakaria
ACCRA (Reuters) - President George W. Bush reassured Africaon Wednesday that the United States was not planning to buildnew military bases there and played down the risk of rivalrywith China for influence on the continent.
Speaking in Ghana on the fourth leg of a five-nationAfrican tour, Bush said the U.S. military command for Africa(Africom) created last year was intended to help Africanleaders solve the continent's crises, not boost the U.S.military presence there.
"We do not contemplate adding new bases," Bush said at ajoint news conference with Ghana's President John Kufuor.
"I know there are rumours in Ghana: 'All Bush is doing iscoming to try to convince you to put a big military base here.'That's baloney. Or, as we say in Texas, that's bull," Bushsaid.
The Bush administration created Africom with the aim ofbolstering security on the continent, already a major supplierof crude oil to the American market.
U.S. officials talked initially of plans to move theAfricom headquarters to Africa, but African opposition ledWashington to change course. Bush said the United States couldstill put "some kind of office" representing Africom on thecontinent.
"We haven't made our minds up. It's a new concept," hesaid.
A base for 1,800 U.S. troops already exists in Djibouti.
Bush said the United States and China, whose growinginfluence in Africa is seen by some Western diplomats asundermining efforts to encourage good governance, could bothpursue opportunities there without stoking rivalry.
China has ramped up its investment across Africa in recentyears in return for access to oil, metals and other rawmaterials to fuel its rapidly expanding economy.
"I don't view Africa as zero sum for China and the UnitedStates. I think we can pursue agendas without creating a greatsense of competition," Bush said.
"Do I view China as a fierce competitor on the continent ofAfrica? No I don't."
SUCCESS STORIES
Bush met Kufuor in a former slave fort by the AtlanticOcean, which millions of Africans crossed in chains on theirway to the Americas. Thousands lined the streets to greet him,including children waving Ghana's green, yellow and red flag.
The imposing former trading fort was built by Europeancolonists, is now more generally known as "The Castle" -- theseat of government in the former British "Gold Coast" colony.
Peacocks strutted and screeched in the background as Bushand Kufuor spoke on a dais in the castle gardens.
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.
During his tour, Bush has backed efforts to solve crises inKenya and Darfur. But his itinerary, taking in Benin, Tanzaniaand Rwanda, has sought to highlight success stories on acontinent often portrayed as a morass of crises and conflict.
Bush's support for multi-billion-dollar anti-malaria andanti-AIDS projects in Africa has earned him an unusually warmreception despite widespread condemnation of his foreign policytoward Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan.
In Ghana, Bush unveiled a $350 million (180.2 millionpound), five-year plan to fight neglected tropical diseasesthat cause misery for millions of people on the world's poorestcontinent.
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 in U.S. assistance under a five-yearprogramme managed by the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation.
On Thursday, Bush visits Liberia -- Africa's firstrepublic, formed by freed slaves from America in 1847. It hasalready offered to host Africom.
(Additional reporting by Kwasi Kpodo; Writing by NickTattersall and Alistair Thomson; Editing by Catherine Evans)
