INTERVIEW-Geldof raps Canada over aid pledges before G8
04 Jun 2007 18:48:42 GMT Source: Reuters
(Adds Canada rejecting Geldof's remarks) By Madeline Chambers BERLIN, June 4 (Reuters) - Canada is blocking an agreement between Group of Eight nations to make concrete commitments on aid to Africa which leaders will negotiate at this week's summit, anti-poverty campaigner Bob Geldof said on Monday. Canada quickly rejected the allegations, saying Geldof did not know what he was talking about. Chancellor Angela Merkel, who hosts the June 6-8 summit in the Baltic resort of Heiligendamm, has made Africa, along with climate change, a focus of Germany's G8 presidency. She is expected to commit leaders to reiterate a 2005 pledge to double development aid by 2010. Activists say G8 countries are lagging on promises made at the Gleneagles summit in Scotland two years ago. Geldof told Reuters this week's gathering was crucial. "There is a great crisis of credibility," the Irish rocker-turned-campaigner said in a telephone interview. "If I sign a contract in my business life and don't fulfil it, I would be sued. I could go to jail. Do these leaders live outside the norms of human behaviour?" He singled out Canada, saying it wanted to block any figures going into the final agreement. "Canada is the worst culprit in blocking a significant communique. All our information says they are refusing point blank to allow concrete figures," said Geldof. "They are very, very far behind what they said they would do at Gleneagles." He said Canada needed to contribute 623 million Canadian dollars ($590 million) this year to fulfil their promise of doubling aid by 2010 compared with its plans of 160 million Canadian dollars. CANADA ON TRACK: HARPER Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he did not know what Geldof was basing his charges on. "These allegations are false. We are on track to meeting our 2005 commitment to double our humanitarian aid to Africa," he told a news conference in Berlin after talks with Merkel. Geldof also singled out Italy as "pathetic". "I can't understand why Italy should balk at doing the minimum amount expected. It is tragic in the extreme. For (Prime Minister) Romano Prodi it is, in my view, a disgrace." He noted that Italy had enjoyed a large tax windfall this year and was emerging from an economic downturn. Campaign group DATA says the G8 overall is badly off track with their promises to Africa. In total, G8 assistance to sub-Saharan Africa has increased by only $2.3 billion since 2004, when it should have gone up by $5.4 billion over that period, it says. "That means -- you condemn vast numbers of people to being badly educated, unhealthy, having no future," said Geldof. He also noted that Germany had dragged its heels. Last week Merkel announced a 750 million euro ($1.01 billion) increase in German development aid next year but activists say that is insufficient to fulfil its long-term Gleneagles goals. Geldof said Merkel's likely failure to make significant progress on tackling climate change raised the stakes for an ambitious agreement on fighting poverty. "I think they will completely crap out on climate change and I think there is anger and dismay about that," he said. "The only political win is poverty. It comes at a relatively cheap price. The numbers are low, given the amount of gross domestic product swimming around the table and secondly, no one is asking for a dime more than they promised." (With additional reporting by David Ljunggren in Berlin) ($1=1.056 Canadian Dollar)
