JOHANNESBURG - Shielded from sprawling African slums by battalions of police, officials from world Governments got down to talks in Johannesburg yesterday aimed at salvaging a deal for this week's mammoth Earth Summit.
Delegates in the plush Sandton convention centre face a rift between poor nations demanding more aid and fairer
trade and rich states that are reluctant to commit more cash.
Streets in the wealthy suburb had been cleared of beggars.
Third World activists accused Americans and Europeans of pushing the interests of globalised big business at the expense of the poor.
Negotiators, trying to lift Africans and others from poverty without repeating the environmental damage caused by industry in the West, face a string of problems ranging from how to increase the use of renewable energy to bolstering health services.
Washington denied suggestions that President George W. Bush did not care about key issues of poverty and development. He is under fire for deciding not to join about 100 other world leaders for the finale of the 10-day summit, which starts tomorrow.
John Turner, the United States Assistant Secretary for International Environmental Affairs, said Bush was fully committed to the summit, but his leadership was needed at home on security, international and economic matters.
As African dancers and drummers greeted delegates arriving at Sandton for the summit, police were also outside protecting delegates.
They fired stun grenades and tear gas at a crowd in front of the University of the Witwatersrand carrying candles and banners.
Several hundred people, protesting mainly at restrictions on demonstrations, defied a police ban and tried to march.
They broke up quietly after minor scuffles.
- REUTERS
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