- Title: KENYA: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN POWELL CONTINUES NAIROBI VISIT.
- Date: 27th May 2001
- Summary: NAIROBI, KENYA (MAY 27, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. MV/CU: COLIN POWELL WITH OFFICIALS OF OPERATION LIFELINE SUDAN BREAKFAST MEETING/ POWELL AND AMERICAN AMBASSADOR (2 SHOTS) 0.10 2. GV/PAN/GV: POWELL WALKING DOWN TO MEET THE PRESS/ JOURNALIST WAITING (2 SHOTS) 0.19 3. CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) POWELL SAYING: "We will see whether the Khartoum government is interested in constructive engagement, we notice that when the Bush administration first came in they stopped bombing for a while and it has picked up again. Recently and the last few days they have announced cessation bombing. I think it is a good step but it can't just be for a short time they ought to stop bombing humanitarian sites altogether, so we will measure their behaviour, we will measure their response to our action and see whether or not we have a basis of moving forward." 1.00 4. GV: POWELL AND ENTOURAGE ARRIVAL AT KIBERA (2 SHOTS) 1.16 5. GV/CU: GUEST AND KENYA GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SITTING/ CLOSE UP OF POWELL (2 SHOTS) 1.28 6. GV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) SAM ONGERI, MINISTER FOR HEALTH SAYING: "I would like to thank the government for it's continued support towards Kenyans and indeed Africa's war against AIDS and reiterate that Kenya will appreciate any additional assistance which will help us in this troublesome war." 1.49 7. GV/CU: AIDS VICTIM PATRICIA OCHIENG WALKS TO ADDRESS POWELL (2 SHOTS) 1.58 8. MV: (SOUNDBITE) (English) PATRICIA OCHIENG AIDS ACTIVIST AND VICTIM SAYING: "I look forward to the day that the life-saving drugs will be made available to Africa, and would appreciate very much all the US government can do to make this dream come true. " 2.18 9. GV/CU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) POWELL SAYING: "This is more than a health issue, it is a social issue, it is a political issue, this is an economical issue, this is an issue of poverty. It's an issue of destruction of a society." 2.33 10. SCU: KENYA'S VICE PRESIDENT 2.36 11. MCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) POWELL SAYING: "United States is in this battle with you, we will do anything we can to help with this battle and hopefully it's a battle we will win." 2.46 12. GV/TILT/LV: POWELL AND ENTOURAGE AT AIRPORT/ POWELL ASCENDS TO THE PLANE/ PLANE TAXING AT AIRPORT (2 SHOTS) 3.17 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 11th June 2001 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: NAIROBI, KENYA WORLD 5 27 MAY 2001 EDIT: 714
- Country: Kenya
- Reuters ID: LVA81KKW02FGDG07Y8TW8JHGJF1N
- Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday the
United States would send 40,000 tonnes of food to Sudan to try
to avert starvation amid reports of worsening shortages in the
government-controlled north.
Colin Powell welcomed the decision announced by the
Sudanese government on Thursday (May 24) to unilaterally cease
air strikes in the South.
Civil war in Sudan began in 1983 when black Africans from
the mainly Christian and animist south took up arms against
the Arab-dominated Muslim government in Khartoum to demand
greater autonomy. Millions of people have died as a direct or
indirect consequence of the fighting.
"We will see whether the Khartoum government is
interested in constructive engagement, we notice that when the
Bush administration first came in they stopped bombing for a
while and it has picked up again. Recently and the last few
days they have announced cessation bombing. I think it is a
good step but it can't just be for a short time they ought to
stop bombing humanitarian sites altogether, so we will measure
their behaviour, we will measure their response to our action
and see whether or not we have a basis of moving forward,"
said Powell after meeting with officials of Operation Lifeline
Sudan.
In another function held on Sunday (May 27), the U.S.
Secretary of State came under fire from Kenyan AIDS activists
who were angry at what they called the U.S. government's
inadequate response to the fight against the disease.
Powell, in Kenya on a four-nation tour of Africa, pledged
to keep the search for an AIDS cure high on Washington's
agenda, but reacted more cautiously to calls for cheaper AIDS
drugs for the world's poorest continent.
The minister in charge of health in Kenya thanked the
United States for the support it has been given in the fight
against AIDS and HIV in Kenya.
Patricia Ochieng an HIV -positive activist with the Kenya
Coalition for Access to Essential Medicines, appealed to
Powell to allow Africa to import cheap drugs. A move bitterly
opposed to by the global pharmaceutical industry.
"I look forward to the day that this life saving drugs
will be made available to Africa and would appreciate very
much all the US government can do to make this dream come
true," Ochieng said.
The Coalition also urged Powell to support a controversial
bill up for debate in Kenya's parliament early next month that
would allow the country to import cheap generic medicines,
including antiretroviral AIDS drugs that have helped reduce
the number of AIDS deaths in the West by 75 percent.
The legislation is opposed by multinational drugs giants
which last month were badly bruised in South Africa after
abandoning a court case seeking to challenge a similar law.
Triple combination AIDS drugs cost well over $1,000 per
patient each year, campaigners say.
With more than half of Kenya's population earning less
than $1 a day, only about 1,000 of Kenya's 2. 2 million AIDS
sufferers have access to the drugs.
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