US 'blackmailing' countries over Aids drugs

France accused the United States of “blackmail” tactics to pressure poor countries into giving up rights to make cheap HIV drugs, as the Aids Conference issued a stirring call to get more medicine to millions of needy in the developing world.

“A vicious terrorist is out there. It is not Osama bin Laden, it is Aids,” Hollywood actor Richard Gere told conference delegates in Bangkok. “The biggest threat to our livelihood, our happiness is Aids.”