    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2008, Book II)]
    [July 16, 2008]
    [Pages 1030-1031]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks Following a Meeting With President Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso
    July 16, 2008

        President Bush. Mr. President, thank you for coming. I first started
    my conversation with the President by complimenting him on his
    leadership in the United Nations and in the region. You've been a
    constructive force for peace and stability.
        And we talked about Zimbabwe. I made my position abundantly clear
    that, one, we are disappointed with the veto of the U.N. Security
    Council resolution, for which both our nations worked in concert.
    Secondly, we deeply care about the plight of the citizens of Zimbabwe,
    and we hope there's a peaceful resolution soon. I told the President, in
    the meantime, our Government is looking at, you know, sanctions beyond
    that which would have been levied out of the U.N. Security Council.

    [[Page 1031]]

        I congratulated the President on the fact that his good nation is a
    recipient of a Millennium Challenge Account program. It's a program
    aimed to help farmers, entrepreneurs, and girls and women. It's the
    right thing to do, Mr. President. This grant would not have been awarded
    without your commitment to fighting corruption, your willingness to
    invest in the health and education of your people, and your adherence to
    marketplace principles. So I congratulate you, sir, on that.
        Finally, I talked to him about issues that are dear to my heart, and
    that are the issues of HIV/AIDS. I congratulated his country for being
    effective at preventing the spread of AIDS. And we talked about malaria.
        It's been my honor to have you here, sir. And I thank you for your
    leadership, and I thank you for your friendship. Hold on, go ahead.
        President Compaore. First of all, the President and I seized this
    opportunity to meet, and the first thing I did was to show gratitude to
    President Bush for the engagement of the United States in favor of our
    country, Burkina Faso, and especially in terms of poverty reduction and
    economic development and all the help.
        But I said to the President, other than Burkina Faso, all the
    continent of Africa is very grateful to initiatives taken by the United
    States administration in terms of debt reduction, public aid to
    development, fight against HIV/AIDS, and building schools in our
    country.
        And we talked about the situation on the whole continent, the need
    for democracy and stability in Africa, and the urgent need for a true
    rule of law in Zimbabwe. We also talked about the need for a political
    solution to the crisis in Darfur, which is weighing very heavily in all
    Africa.
        And again, I congratulate President Bush, Congress, and the American
    people for their commitment for Africa.
        President Bush. Thank you, sir.

    Note: The President spoke at 11:18 a.m. in the Oval Office at the White
    House. President Compaore spoke in French, and his remarks were
    translated by an interpreter.