UK pushing for Africa debt plan

The UK Chancellor Gordon Brown has put forward a bold plan to tackle poverty in Africa ahead of the G8 Summit of rich countries in Scotland next month.

He called for a doubling of European aid by 2010 and 100% debt relief, as well as an end to many trade subsidies.

But the plan is facing opposition in the US - and particularly from President George W Bush.

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Mr Bush said on Wednesday that a key part of the plan did not fit with the US budget process.

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The UK has said that 2005 is a vital year for Africa, and argues that without significantly more money the United Nations' Millennium Goal of halving world poverty by 2015 will be impossible to meet.

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But the US remains concerned that the UK is proposing that the debt plans should be financed in part by selling gold reserves held by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

A surge in the price of gold has boosted the value of the reserve, and the UK wants to use that extra cash.

The US - along with some other countries including Japan, Germany and Italy - has never been keen on the idea of selling IMF gold.

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The US has already pledged to increase development aid through its own Millennium Challenge Account, but little of the money has been spent so far.

Analysts say the war in Iraq and its related costs have pushed Africa off the US agenda, and think a change in priorities is unlikely.

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Mr Brown played down reports of a rift or stand-off between the UK and the US.

"In my talks over the last few months, but particularly over the last day or two, with the US Treasury Secretary, we believe that there is common ground on securing that debt relief," he explained.

"We believe it is going to be possible to reach an agreement on debt relief."

"This is not a time for timidity nor a time to fear reaching too high."

The cost of the war in Iraq , is just to high. We could be helping so many more people.

Semper Fi