Britain to ask Arab world to help Africa says paper

LONDON - Britain, seeking to salvage its planned debt relief deal for Africa ahead of next month's rich nations' summit, is to ask oil-rich Arab states to contribute more, the Observer newspaper said on Sunday.

The current holder of the G7 presidency, Britain has declared 2005 a make-or-break year for Africa but its proposals for easing the burden of African debt have been coolly received by its partners including the United States.

"It is critical that all wealthy countries, including the richer, oil producing states join in," Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown wrote in the newspaper.

Despite their oil wealth, the Gulf states have had little tradition of donating overseas aid.

The Observer said Brown has opened discussions with his opposite numbers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

Details are expected to be discussed at the summit in Gleneagles, Scotland on July 6-8.

Prime Minister Tony Blair flies to Washington on Monday in an attempt to persuade President George W. Bush to commit more money to Africa.

The Bush administration and other nations are unconvinced by Britain's plan for an "International Finance Facility", that would double aid for poor countries by issuing bonds against rich states' future aid budgets.

British government sources are now floating the idea of pressing ahead without US involvement.

Nor has London won a critical mass of support for a scheme to sell off International Monetary Fund gold to fund further debt relief for Africa.

Brown said on Friday he would write off the 500,000 pound tax bill from staging a "Live8" concert in London aimed at pressurising world leaders into eradicating African poverty.

A YouGov poll for the Daily Telegraph newspaper on Saturday found 83 per cent of Britons were not confident that money given to Africa would be spent wisely.

- REUTERS