Bono Wants to Help The World's Poor

NEW YORK (AP) _ Rock star Bono says he's tired of just dreaming about helping the world's poor and sick. <br><br>``I'm into doing at the moment,'' the U2 singer tells Time magazine

Monday, February 25th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Rock star Bono says he's tired of just dreaming about helping the world's poor and sick.

``I'm into doing at the moment,'' the U2 singer tells Time magazine in its Feb. 24 issue, on newsstands Monday.

``I know how absurd it is to have a rock star talk about the World Health Organization or debt relief or HIV/AIDS in Africa,'' he acknowledges.

But the 41-year-old celebrity has access to media and money, and power-brokers listen to him.

As chief benefactor of a debt-relief advocacy group, Bono recently sat on a World Economic Forum dais with Bill Gates, discussing how to save Africa from financial ruin.

``I refused to meet him at first,'' Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told the magazine.

But their scheduled half-hour session stretched to 90 minutes, and O'Neill changed his mind: ``He's a serious person. He cares deeply about these issues, and you know what? He knows a lot about them.''

Bono and his U2 band-mates are up for eight Grammy awards this week for their current album ``All That You Can't Leave Behind.''