Washington, August 12: Pity poor Hillary Clinton. She is in the midst of a gruelling trip to Africa, bringing a message of US commitment to the unhappiest corners of an unhappy continent.
Yet it is now likely to be remembered, if at all, for a snappy answer to a question involving her husband – a question that almost certainly was mis-relayed to her in translation.
Yesterday she became the first Secretary of State to visit Goma, ground zero of the civil war that for a decade has ravaged eastern Congo. She toured a dust-choked refugee camp and pledged $17m of aid to fight the plague of sexual assault by roving militias, that has led the UN to describe the region as the “rape capital of the world”.
Yet this venture into the battle zone, as well as Ms Clinton’s earlier stops in Kenya, South Africa and Angola will probably be eclipsed by her brief reply at a town hall meeting on Monday with university students in the capital Kinshasa, at which she appeared with Dikembe Mutombo, local hero and former NBA basketball superstar.
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Unfortunately the translator messed up the question, originally in French. What did President Obama think of concerns about massive Chinese aid to the country, he apparently meant to ask. Alas the President in question was identified not as Mr Obama, but her own spouse, Bill Clinton.
“You want me to tell you what my husband thinks?” she replied, visibly angry. “My husband is not Secretary of State, I am. If you want my opinion, I will tell you my opinion. I am not going to be channelling my husband.”
–Agencies