"I view the Olympics as a sporting event," he told the BBC's Matt Frei.

But he added that he would meet Chinese President Hu Jintao and "remind him that he can do more to relieve the suffering in Darfur".

Mr Bush is scheduled to leave on Friday for his second tour of Africa - though he said on Thursday he may be delayed if a crucial wiretapping bill is held up in Congress.

He is due to visit Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia.

The president will be travelling with his wife, Laura - who has been to the continent five times.

They will visit hospitals, schools and businesses, hoping to show how US investment in health and development programmes has made a real difference to Africans.

Aid promises

Mr Bush said he had a "firm, heartfelt commitment to the continent of Africa".

But he said it was also in the interest of US and global security to tackle poverty there.

"We have people who are suffering from disease and hunger and hopelessness. The only way a radical can recruit is to find somebody who's hopeless," he said.

US aid to Africa has grown rapidly since Mr Bush entered the White House in 2001. He said on Thursday it had doubled over his first term and was set to double again by 2010.

Asked by Matt Frei if he felt he had got the credit he deserved for such investment, Mr Bush replied: "I'm not one of these guys that really gives a darn about opinion. What I really care about is are we saving lives?"

Mr Bush will not visit Kenya, where inter-ethnic violence erupted after recent disputed elections, or Sudan.

But his aides say he will discuss both crises with African leaders during his trip.

Mr Bush condemned the government of Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe and said he would put more pressure on neighbouring South Africa to find a diplomatic solution.

"I just happen to believe their government could do more to enhance a free society in their region," he said.

Talking about events at home, he defended his threat to veto a bill passed by the US Senate outlawing the interrogation technique of water-boarding, dismissing fears that that might send a negative message around the world.

Asked whether America still occupies the moral high ground after Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay, Mr Bush gave a crisply and blunt answer, our interviewer says.

"Absolutely," he replied. "We believe in human rights and human dignity. We believe in the human condition. We believe in freedom."

Matt Frei is the presenter of BBC World News America which airs every weekday at 0030 GMT on BBC News 24 and at 0000 GMT (1900 ET / 1600 PT) on BBC World (for viewers outside the UK only).