Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania —- President Bush rejected proposed Democratic changes to his prized AIDS relief program, issuing a challenge Sunday to Congress to "stop the squabbling" and renew it as is.

Tanzanian leader Jakaya Kikwete added his voice to the appeal, saying thousands in his country would orphan their children if U.S. lawmakers do not act.

There is broad support in the Democratic-controlled Congress for the anti-AIDS spending that has become the largest-ever international health initiative devoted to one disease, so there is not much danger of failing to continue it. But with the program expiring this year, a political and ideological showdown is brewing in Washington over the initiative's terms and size.

Bush hopes that showcasing real, grateful beneficiaries of the program —- moms and dads controlling the disease and children who were born HIV-free to infected mothers —- would strengthen his hand in the debate.

The president's three-night stay in this vast East Africa nation takes him to a part of the continent that is important in the U.S. fight against terrorism. The bombed-out former U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam still stands as a stark reminder of deadly attacks in Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, in 1998.

The visit to Tanzania is the longest of Bush's six-day African trip and longer than usual for the president anywhere. The stay and the celebration of a new five-year, $698 million U.S. aid pact were intended as goodwill messages to Tanzania's large Muslim population.

It seemed to work. In contrast to the protests that often greet him at home and abroad, Bush repeatedly received enthusiastic receptions in Tanzania.

Thousands of people lined his motorcade route from the airport Saturday night. A large and spirited crowd waved U.S. and Tanzanian flags Sunday as he walked into the graceful, oceanfront State House for meetings with President Kikwete.

"Different people may have different views about you and your administration and your legacy," said a grateful Kikwete after he and Bush signed the aid deal. "But we in Tanzania, if we are to speak for ourselves and for Africa, we know for sure that you, Mr. President, and your administration, have been good friends of our country and have been good friends of Africa."

Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, who is black and whose father was Kenyan, is a sensation in Africa. But Bush seemed surprised that Obama's name would come up during this victory-lap journey that is celebrating some of his only foreign policies that make him popular.

"It seemed like there was a lot of excitement for me, wait a minute. Maybe you missed it," he joked at a news conference, speculating that a question about Obama was put to Kikwete instead of him because it was well known "I wouldn't answer."

Kikwete appeared to get the hint, declining at Bush's side even to discuss the prospect of a man with African roots becoming president of the United States.

"I don't think I can venture into that territory, either," Kikwete said. "The U.S. is going to get a new president, whoever that one is. For us, the most important thing is, let him be as good friend of Africa as President Bush has been."

PRESIDENT'S AFRICA ITINERARY

Highlights of President Bush's continuing trip to Africa, which began Saturday:

> Today: Arusha, Tanzania. Tours Meru District Hospital, A to Z Textile Mills and Maasai Girls School.

> Tuesday: Kigali, Rwanda. Arrival ceremony and visit to Kigali Memorial Centre. Meeting and news conference with the president, Paul Kagame. Flies to Accra, Ghana.

> Wednesday: Accra. Arrival ceremony, meeting and joint news conference with the president, John Kufuor. State dinner.

> Thursday: Monrovia, Liberia. Arrival ceremony and meeting with the president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Participates in roundtable on teacher training project at the University of Liberia. Return flight to Washington.