AFRICA: Blair pressured on AIDS airline tax

JOHANNESBURG, 9 June 2006 (PlusNews) - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair came under pressure from French President Jacques Chirac on Friday to make a financial commitment to a new anti-AIDS initiative to assist poor nations.

According to London's Financial Times, Chirac said that his government was contributing to the initiative known as UnitAid, in which a tax of US$1.30 per passenger was imposed by airlines.

A number of countries, including Britain, Algeria and Brazil, showed interest in the tax when it was proposed by Chirac last year, but many others are still undecided.

The British Treasury Department has since announced that was fully engaged in discussions with France and was committed to making a financial contribution, which would be made public "in due course".