Clinton Praises Tanzania for Peace Role in Burundi

A R U S H A, Tanzania, Aug. 28 -- President Bill Clinton praised Tanzania today for its efforts to help bringpeace to neighboring Burundi and carry out economic reform at home.

Clinton, the first U.S. president to set foot in Tanzania, said he wanted to encourage more foreign investment there.

Clinton and his daughter Chelsea were greeted by traditional dancers and were presented with flowers at the Kilimanjaro Airport. After meeting President Benjamin Mkapa, Clinton paid tribute to the Tanzanian leader as a “champion of peace.”

“You inspire all those around you who are struggling to achieve freedom and peace and reconciliation,” he said. “I thank you for the power of your example.”

Clinton, who was in Nigeria for the weekend, came to the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha at the invitation of former South African President Nelson Mandela to throw weight behind his efforts to bring peace to Burundi.

Senior U.S. officials said Clinton met Mandela for 20 minutes at the International Conference Center in Arusha. Mandela, officials said, was in active negotiations when Clinton arrived.

Clinton is not officially participating in the peace talks, his presence in Tanzania though, is seen as a sign of support for the negotiations.

Fighting between Burundi's Tutsi-dominated government and Hutu rebels has claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people.

Bombers Failed, Clinton Says

Just after arriving in Arusha, Clinton had a brief meeting with Mkapa whom he again praised for not allowing the 1998 bombings of the U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya to change Tanzania’s policy of tolerance.

Nearly 300 people were killed and over 5,000 injured on August 7, 1998 in simultaneous car bomb attacks on Washington’s embassies in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and the Tanzanian port city of Dar es Salaam.

Washington believes that exiled Saudi Arabian dissident Osama bin Laden was behind the attacks.

“I believe the terrorists went after Tanzania, Kenya and the United States precisely because we are dedicated to tolerance, understanding and cooperation across frontiers and lines of decision,” Clinton said.