Geldof, Bono dismiss G8 Africa decisions as 'farce and obfuscation'

Jun 8, 2007, 18:08 GMT

Heiligendamm, Germany - Popstars Bob Geldof and Bono dismissed the decisions taken by the leaders of the industrialized world on aid to Africa in strong language as the G8 summit closed in the northern German resort of Heiligendamm.

'What happened over the last two days was bollocks,' Geldof told a press conference called immediately after summit host German Chancellor Angela Merkel had delivered her summing up to the media.

He accused Merkel of 'accepting the argument but rejecting the logical conclusions of the argument' on the need for a much greater effort to help the world's poor.

Geldof, who is now better known for his activism on behalf of Africa than for his music, said the G8 leaders had missed an opportunity to take measures that 'could help the poor of the world at a cheap price.'

Calling the G8 leaders 'creeps,' he called on them to 'get serious.'

'This wasn't serious. This was a total farce,' Geldof said.

Bono said he had little to add, but picking up the G8 communique on Africa, he called it 'obfuscation' and 'Eurobabble.'

The 60 billion dollars pledged in additional funding to combat infectious disease misrepresented the additional money that would in fact be spent, he said.

Bono accused the G8 communique of creating a language maze, 'a maze of language trying to lose us, but we are not lost, the G8 are lost,' he said.