AU boss warns on Obama

31 January, 2009 in Africa

source: Mmegi
TSHIRELETSO MOTLOGELWA
Staff Writer

ADDIS ABABA: The AU Commission chairman, Jean Ping has warned Africans against placing too much hope on new US President Barrack Obama. Ping said that though Obama is an African-American, he is primarily a president of the US. “He was voted in by the American people to defend US interests. He is the US president,” he warned.

However, Ping asserted at the AU headquarters in Addis Ababa in an address to journalists that there is hope for better Africa-US relations because of the new presidency of Obama.

Ping said Obama brings a new orientation and an approach to issues of concern to both the US and Africa. He asserted that the new president promises to be much more in touch with issues of concern.

Ping was speaking during his monthly media briefing. He said it is not just Africa that has put so much hope in Obama but the rest of the world.

“We are proud that Obama is a son of the African diaspora, which is the sixth region of the African Union,” he said. He added that Africa and the US share many issues of [continue reading]

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