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Former Ambassador to Africa to Question Bush, Kerry's Positions on Africa, Oct. 7 in Boston

BOSTON (September 21, 2004) — One of the nation's leading authorities on Africa will question the positions on Africa of both leading U.S. Presidential candidates on Thursday, Oct. 7, in Boston in his speech, "Bush, Kerry, and the Marginalizing of Africa."

Walter C. Carrington, former U.S. ambassador to Nigeria and Senegal and currently the Warburg Chair in International Relations at Simmons College, will speak at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 7 in the Conference Center, Main Campus Building, 300 The Fenway, Boston. The speech is free and open to the public.

Carrington says that in the post-Sept. 11 era, "it is not in the national security interest of the United States to continue to give a low priority to sub-Saharan Africa, whose Muslim population is greater than that of the entire Arab world and in which most of the world's weakest and failing states are located. Ignored, these states could become havens and recruiting grounds for militant anti-American extremists."

Carrington has a long and decorated tenure in foreign policy, including his diplomatic career in Africa. A street in Nigeria where the American embassy and 12 others are located was renamed the Walter Carrington Crescent in recognition of his accomplishments during his tenure as ambassador to Nigeria from 1993-1997. He served as ambassador to Senegal from 1980-1981.

Carrington has published and lectured widely in the U.S. and abroad on Africa, and Islam in Africa, including his work "Understanding the Islam World Beyond Arabia: New Challenges to American Foreign Policy Post-September 11" published in the spring 2003 Ambassador's Review of the Council of American Ambassadors. He is currently writing a book on Nigeria.