President George Bush has thanked African nations for their support since the attacks on New York and Washington, and has announced initiatives to help them take advantage of free trade with the United States.

Mr Bush urged them to ratify the 1999 Algiers anti-terror convention to provide themselves with more judicial, diplomatic and financial tools to root out terrorism.

He told a forum of African trade ministers at the State Department in Washington that the developed and developing world shared the same goal of forging a future of more openness, trade and freedom.

The American leader announced that he was devoting $200m to facilitate US investment in sub-Saharan Africa, and was launching a programme to help African businesses sell more products on global markets.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service