US: Presidents Bush and Mbeki publicly maintained a united front on Zimbabwe yesterday, although prior statements by Mr Bush and his Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, signalled a divergence of views between the two presidents.
Mr Bush and Mr Powell had left no doubt that they thought it was time for President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe to go, and that the leaders of neighbouring states ought to exert pressure on him to do so, a position that the South African President, an advocate of "quiet diplomacy", had not endorsed.
After their talks yesterday, Mr Bush stressed at a press conference that he and Mr Mbeki shared the "same objective" in Zimbabwe. He described Mr Mbeki as the "point man" of the "very important process" of seeking a settlement to the dispute over Mr Mugabe's resumption of power after the controversial March 2002 presidential election.
"I have no intention of second-guessing his tactics," Mr Bush said. "We want the same outcome."
Mr Mbeki took a similar conciliatory line, saying: "We are absolutely of one mind about the urgent need to address the political and economic challenges of Zimbabwe.
"Ultimately, though, the principal responsibility for Zimbabwe lies with the people there. The \ Zanu-PF and the \ MDC need to get together for talks and they are doing so."
Commenting in reply to a question about the scepticism expressed by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) over Mr Mbeki's neutrality, a scepticism that Zimbabwe opposition leader, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, reiterated yesterday by labelling Mr Mbeki's remarks "misleading", Mr Bush said: "I think Mbeki can be an honest broker."
On the issue of Aids, Mr Mbeki had indicated before meeting Mr Bush that talks would focus on access for South Africa to the R$15-billion aid programme announced by Mr Bush to help African and Caribbean countries combat the plague. At the press conference yesterday, Mr Bush pledged that the US would respond positively to a South African application for assistance for its 4.7-million people who are either living with AIDS or are HIV-positive.
Mr Bush - who today visits Botswana before moving on to Uganda and Nigeria - reiterated the commitment of the US to achieving a ceasefire in war-torn Liberia. But he emphasised that the US would not "over-extend" itself and would seek, instead, the co-operation of the United Nations and the Economic Community of West African States in its quest to stabilise the situation in Liberia.