Bush to welcome Burkina president

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President George W. Bush will welcome Burkina Faso President Blaise Compaore on July 16 for talks on US aid and efforts to stabilize West Africa, the White House said Monday.

The two leaders also "will discuss the shared goal of advancing democracy and human rights in Africa, especially Zimbabwe and Sudan," spokeswoman Dana Perino said in a statement.

Burkina Faso's foreign minister, Djibril Bassole, recently became the new joint United Nations and African Union mediator for Sudan's violence-wracked Darfur region.

Bush will also congratulate Compaore on Burkina Faso's new 480-million-dollar compact with the US Millennium Challenge Corporation, US aid money to reward countries for free-market and democratic reforms, she said.

Bassole, 51, will be based in El-Facher, the administrative centre in northern ...