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LONDON : British Prime Minister Tony Blair left Tuesday for a three-nation trip Africa, his last journey to a continent he has vigorously championed during a decade in office.
The 54-year-old premier was heading first for Libya, before stops in Sierra Leone and South Africa, a Downing Street spokeswoman said, although she did not disclose exact dates or his full itinerary for security reasons.
The crisis in Sudan's Darfur region, just to the south of Libya, threatened to cloud his agenda, as the United States announced new sanctions against the Khartoum government.
Blair hailed the US anouncement. "We welcome any moves from the US and others in adding to the pressure on (Sudan) because what is happening in Sudan is not acceptable by any international standards," said his spokesman.
Drumming up business was also expected to be high on the agenda. Blair's spokesman, speaking shortly before takeoff for Tripoli, said that oil giant BP will be announcing its return to Libya, from where it withdrew in 1974.
"This trip is all about showing that we need to keep re-engaging with Africa as a whole," added the spokesman.
Blair announced his resignation on May 10 but his successor, finance minister Gordon Brown, only formally takes over on June 27.
After visits to the United States and France this month, and with the G8 summit in Germany and European Union leaders meeting in Brussels in the offing, opponents have criticised Blair for embarking on a lengthy "farewell tour".
Yet Downing Street was keen to stress that far from a valedictory farewell, Blair's visit to Africa comes at a "critical juncture", as the G8 prepares for a summit next week dominated by climate change and poverty reduction.
On Africa, Blair wants the world's richest countries to make good on their 2005 pledges to grant substantial debt relief and double aid to the continent by 2010 as well as new, "specific" commitments on education and HIV programmes.
Elsewhere, he will seek to highlight how peace and good governance play a "critical" role in helping Africa alongside foreign aid and debt cancellation.
Blair is to outline proposals to build the African Union's capacity to intervene in African conflicts and boost international support.
On trade, World Trade Organisation talks are ongoing to agree cuts in agriculture subsidies and tariffs to help the world's poorest nations and developing countries.
More generally, Libya, Sierra Leone and South Africa demonstrated in different ways "the benefits of this government's active, values-driven foreign policy engagement with Africa", the spokeswoman said.
Britain has forged closer ties with Libya since 1999 after the north African country's leader Muammar Gaddafi agreed to hand over two suspects in the 1988 Pan Am airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.
Following Gaddafi's announcement to end Libya's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction in 2004, London now sees Tripoli as a key partner to create better international security.
In Sierra Leone, Blair's standing is still high after he sent British troops to help end 10 years of bitter civil war in 2000.
Britain is now Sierra Leone's largest bilateral development partner, spending 40 million pounds per year, according to the Department for International Development (DfID).
London also spends 70 million pounds annually either directly or through international agencies in South Africa and surrounding countries, DfID said.
Britain is South Africa's major trading and investment partner while bilateral relations include defence, trade liberalisation and HIV/AIDS programmes. - AFP/ch
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