    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2005, Book I)]
    [June 1, 2005]
    [Pages 908-912]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following Discussions With President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and an Exchange With Reporters
    June 1, 2005

        President Bush. Mr. President, welcome back.
        We've just had a wide-ranging discussion on very important issues.
    We spent time talking about our bilateral relations. I would
    characterize our bilateral relations as strong. We spent time talking
    about the continent of Africa.
        And Mr. President, I want to thank you for your leadership. South
    Africa is a great country. The President has used his position to not
    only better the lives of his own people but to work to bring stability
    and peace to the region and to the continent.
        We talked about several situations that are of concern to our
    Government, most notably Darfur. I want to thank you for your leadership
    there. The President has got troops there. Deputy Secretary
    Zoellick is on the way to Darfur. This is
    a serious situation. As you know, former Secretary of State Colin
    Powell, with my concurrence, declared the
    situation a genocide. Our Government has put a lot of money to help deal
    with the human suffering there.
        Later on today I'll be meeting with the head of NATO, who has agreed
    to help the AU position troops so that humanitarian aid can reach these
    poor folks as well as getting--bringing stability and hopefully some
    breathing room so there can be a political agreement. But the President
    gave me some good advice on that situation, and I want to thank you for
    that.
        As well, we'll discuss, later on, ways to cooperate to make the
    world a more peaceful place. But Mr. President, again, I really
    appreciate you coming. It's great to see you.
        President Mbeki. Thank you very much, President. I must say thank
    you very much, Mr. President, for asking us to come. And again I must
    say I agree very much with the President about the state of the
    relations between our two governments and the two countries, indeed very
    strong. And President, I appreciate it very much the commitment you have
    demonstrated now for some years with regard to helping us to meet our
    own domestic South African challenges as well as the challenges on the
    African continent.

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        They are--I'm afraid you have--I'm going to create more problems for
    you, President--[laughter]--because I'm going to ask for even more
    support.
        President Bush. That's all right. [Laughter]
        President Mbeki. Because the contribution of the United States to
    helping us to solve the issues that lead to peace and security on the
    continent, that contribution is very vital. The contribution, President,
    to helping us in terms of the economic recovery and development of the
    continent, particularly via NEPAD, is very important.
        And I--we believe very strongly, President, that the forthcoming G-8
    summit in Gleneagles in Scotland, has the possibility to communicate a
    very strong, positive message about movement on the African continent
    away from poverty, underdevelopment, these conflicts. And clearly, your
    presence, Mr. President, in terms of the practical outcomes, your
    contribution to the practical outcomes of the G-8 summit is critically
    important.
        But thanks very much.
        President Bush. Thanks.
        We'll answer a couple of questions, if that's all right. April
    [April Ryan, American Urban Radio Networks].

    Sudan/Deep Throat

        Q. Yes, Mr. President. First, for you--what are your thoughts about
    the fact that Deep Throat has been outed----
        President Bush. Yes--[laughter].
        Q. ----and also the fact, Mr. President, is he a hero in your mind?
        And, Mr. President, on the issue of Darfur, Sudan, a new survey came
    out by the Zogby International poll that finds 84 percent of Americans
    polled feel that the U.S. should not tolerate an extremist government
    committing such attacks and should use its military assets, short of
    using military combat troops on the ground to protect civilians there.
        President Bush. Let me first say something. We are working with NATO
    to make sure that we are able to help the AU put combat troops there.
    And as a part of that, I believe a transport plane of ours, for example,
    will be a part of this mission.
        I think later on today I'm going to speak to the Prime Minister of
    Canada, who has also been very strong about
    dealing with Darfur, and I will thank him for his contributions.
        You know, there was an interesting revelation yesterday, Mr.
    President, about a news story--a massive news story that took place when
    I was a pretty young guy. And for those of us who grew up in the late--
    got out of college in the late sixties, and the Watergate story was a
    relevant story, and a lot of us have always wondered who Deep
    Throat might have been. And the mystery was
    solved yesterday.
        Q. Is he a hero?
        President Bush. He was--it's hard for me to
    judge. I'm learning more about the situation. All I can tell you is, is
    that it's--it was a revelation that caught me by surprise, and I thought
    it was very interesting. I'm looking forward to reading about it,
    reading about his relationship with the news media. It's a brandnew
    story for a lot of us who have been wondering a long time who he was. I
    knew it wasn't you. [Laughter] You weren't even born during that period.
        Q. Oh, yes I was; I was born. I was old enough.
        President Bush. Barely. Barely. That's a compliment, Mr. President.
    [Laughter]
        President Mbeki. It is. [Laughter] No, we--our view has been that
    it's critically important that the African continent should deal with
    these conflict situations on the continent, and that includes Darfur.
    And therefore, indeed, you will notice that we have not asked for
    anybody outside of the African Continent to deploy troops in Darfur.
    It's an African responsibility, and we can do it.
        So what we've asked for is the necessary logistical and other
    support to be able to

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    ensure that we discharge our responsibilities. I should say that. Even
    the first troops deployed in Darfur, which were from Rwanda and Nigeria,
    the U.S. military forces sent the planes that actually did the airlift
    of those forces to Darfur. That's the kind of support I would ask for,
    and indeed, as the President has indicated, we even went to NATO, who
    also agreed to support.
        So I don't think it's--certainly from the African perspective, we
    wouldn't say we want deployment of U.S. troops in Darfur. We don't. On
    the continent, we've got the people to do this--military, police,
    other--so long as we get this necessary logistical support. I think
    that's what's critically important.
        President Bush. Do you want to call on somebody from your press
    corps?
        President Mbeki. Anybody?

    Group of Eight/Africa

        Q. President Bush, with about 4 weeks left to go to the G-8 summit,
    do you still--do you have any reservations about British Prime Minister
    Tony Blair's Commission for Africa report, especially with reference to
    the international finance facility?
        President Bush. We have made our position pretty clear on that, that
    it doesn't fit our budgetary process. On the other hand, I've also made
    it clear to the Prime Minister, I look forward to
    working with Great Britain and other countries to advance the African
    agenda that has been on the G-8's agenda for--ever since I've been the
    President.
        And the President and I were talking about the positive steps that
    have been taken. The NEPAD agreement was presented as a result of G-8
    meetings; commitment to trade as well as humanitarian help have all
    emerged as a result of the conversations through the G-8 and commitments
    as a result of the G-8. And I hope to advance the agenda, what I call
    the compassion agenda.
        And by the way, the thing I appreciate about the President is he
    understands it's a two-way street we're talking about. I mean, countries
    such as ours are not going to want to give aid to countries that are
    corrupt or don't hold true to democratic principles, such as rule of law
    and transparency and human rights and human decency. That's where the
    President has played such a vital role, because South Africa has been a
    stalwart when it comes to democratic institutions.
        But, no, we've got more work to do. I'm looking forward to sitting
    down not only at the table with the leaders from the
    G-8 countries but as well with leaders from the continent of Africa--and
    other countries are coming. So it's going to be quite a meeting.
        Keil [Richard Keil, Bloomberg News].

    Elections in Egypt

        Q. Mr. President, looking back over the last year, you talked an
    awful lot about the importance of free and fair elections in Iraq, which
    most international observers now believe is what took place. Given the
    lesson that you say that that leaves for the region, do you think that
    Egypt is now on pace for the same free and fair elections? And if not,
    what do they need to do to get there?
        President Bush. Interesting question. I spoke to President
    Mubarak today, and I--he talked to me, by the
    way, about him calling his Attorney General to--calling upon his Attorney General to investigate
    the disturbance around one of the polling sites. And I urged him once
    again to have as free and fair election as possible, because it will be
    a great legacy for his country. It will be a--he's publicly stated he's
    for free and fair elections, and now is the time for him to show the
    world that his great country can set an example for others. He assured
    me that that's just exactly what he wants to do. And I will, to the best
    of my ability, continue to try to convince him that it's in not only
    Egypt's interest

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    but the world's interest to see that Egypt have free and fair elections.
        Listen, the definition of free and fair, there's international
    standards, of course, but people ought to be allowed to vote without
    being intimidated. People ought to be allowed to be on TV, and if the
    Government owns the TV, they need to allow the opposition on TV. People
    ought to be allowed to, you know, carry signs and express their
    displeasure or pleasure. People ought to have every vote count. And
    those seem like reasonable standards.

    Zimbabwe

        Q. My colleague will ask the question.
        President Bush. It's a relay. [Laughter]
        President Mbeki. It's a relay. [Laughter]
        Q. Mr. President, does your administration still regard Zimbabwe as
    an outpost of tyranny?
        President Mbeki, do you still regard that as an unhelpful
    characterization?
        President Bush. I brought up Zimbabwe. It's--obviously, we are
    concerned about a leadership that does not adhere to democratic
    principles and, obviously, concerned about a country that was able to,
    for example, feed herself, now has to import food, as an example of the
    consequence of not adhering to democrat principles.
        The President, who has been very much involved in this issue, gave
    me a briefing on, for example, different ways that the people are trying
    to reconcile their difference of opinion within Zimbabwe. But it's a
    problem.
        President Mbeki. Yes, you see, the critical challenge, as I'm sure
    you are aware, is to assist the people of Zimbabwe to overcome their
    political problems, their economic problems. There's problems even now
    of food shortages because of the drought.
        And so what is really critically important is to see in what ways we
    can support the opposition party, the ruling party in Zimbabwe to
    overcome these problems. And clearly, one of the critically important
    things to do is to make sure that you have the political arrangements
    that address matters of rule of law, matters that address issues of the
    freedom of the press, issues that address questions of freedom of
    assembly, a whole range of matters which require that the Zimbabweans
    have a look at the constitution and look at the legislation.
        And this is a direction in which we're trying to encourage them to
    move, so that they create this political basis where everybody is
    comfortable that you've got a stable, democratic system in the country,
    which is critically fundamental to addressing these other major
    challenges of ensuring the recovery of the economy of Zimbabwe and
    really improving the lives of the people. So that's the direction we're
    taking.
        President Bush. Well, thank you all for coming. I owe the President
    a lunch.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:03 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Prime Minister Paul Martin of
    Canada; W. Mark Felt, Deputy Director of the FBI during the Nixon
    administration whose identity as the informer known as ``Deep Throat''
    during the Watergate scandal was revealed on May 31; Prime Minister Tony
    Blair of the United Kingdom; and President Hosni Mubarak and Attorney
    General Maher Abdel Wahed of Egypt. The President also referred to the
    African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa's Development
    (NEPAD).

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