(Natsios notes assistance to the continent has risen 34% under Bush) (620) By Jim Fisher-Thompson Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- The Bush Administration's focus on reconstruction in Iraq is not at the expense of development assistance to Africa, which is at record high levels, says U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Andrew Natsios. Natsios told journalists covering African Affairs at a briefing at the State Department May 19, "The rumor that the money that would go to Africa for development assistance or health programs, or disaster relief is instead being diverted to Iraq is simply not true. "In fact, the amount of money we're spending in Africa has gone up over two years by almost 35%. It had been stagnant for 15 years and we [Bush Administration] have increased it, and we're not going back on that." In general terms, Natsios said, "I can categorically say that no money or resources have gone permanently to Iraq that would have gone to other recipients of American assistance. The reality is that all of the money that is being used in Iraq [currently $2,500 million] comes from a separate [supplemental] budget appropriation that just went through Congress." Commenting on African concerns that the prospects for U.S. aid to Iraq are long term, Natsios said the recent funding is "not going to be an annual appropriation, we don't need to do that." Iraq's oil makes it one of the wealthiest nations in the world and it should be able to undertake its own development after initial help from the United States and other donors. He acknowledged there may have been some confusion about the Iraq money because "before the supplemental went through, we did take [borrow] funds from regular USAID programs with the agreement from Congress that they would all get reimbursed...and we actually got the money back just a couple of weeks ago." So, this will have no bearing on funds meant for African development or for programs in Latin America and Asia. In Africa's case, Natsios said, USAID's budget -- not including food and disaster relief aid -- was $792 million in 2001. It had been stuck at about that level since the mid-1980s. This year...we will be at $1,062 million. So, there has been an increase of $270 million in the Africa development budget in two years, which was a deliberate plan by Secretary Powell, the President and me. We recommended to the White House, and the President enthusiastically agreed," that the former lower funding for Africa was "not acceptable. Now, we have over a one-third increase in development assistance for Africa -- the largest increase in the history of the USAID program. "So, it's not only not true that money was diverted; in fact, money has been increased dramatically in a way that has not happened in a very long time," he repeated. Asked if he planned to cut any USAID offices, called 'missions', in Africa, Natsios said, "No!" Although, he noted that the office in Cape Verde had been closed because the country was such a "great success story" and prosperous enough now that it no longer needed a USAID presence. Touching on President Bush's concern for Africa [the President still plans to make the trip later this year that he had earlier announced but had to postpone due to the Iraq crisis], Natsios said, "He's very pro-assistance for Africa and always asks me how much we're doing. I had lunch with him and President [Olusegun] Obasanjo more than a year ago and the President struck up a relationship. Obasanjo and he have become friends and I think they talk" regularly.