George W. Bush berated by Zambia's Michael Sata on Africa trip

Mr Bush arrived in the southern African country last weekend with his wife Laura to promote the work of their cervical cancer prevention foundation, and paid a courtesy visit to the president at Lusaka's State House.

There, Mr Sata, known as King Cobra for his sharp tongue and quick temper, told the 66-year-old Texan that his charitable efforts represented "payback time for colonialists".

Mr Sata, 75, also complained about "the young man" Mr Bush being late for their meeting, adding that were he not bringing money to Africa, he would not have waited.

When the Bushes arrived and the three sat down to tea, Mr Sata told him: "Previously there used to be four great countries: United States of America, United Kingdom, Russia and France.

"And you have all drifted away; you have abandoned Africa after taking all our raw commodities, our raw materials and built your cities.

"I mean, as far as you are concerned, Africa doesn't exist. And when we have a former colonialist like you coming back to pay back what you took out of this country, we are grateful."

Mr Bush reportedly interjected: "Mr President, I don't wanna be argumentative, but America was never a colonial nation. France might have been a colonial nation, Britain might have been a colonial nation, but not the United States of America."

Mr Sata fired back that the Americans' role in the slave industry made them equally culpable: "The Americans did not physically colonise us, but at the same time, the Americans still have scars of slavery," he said.

Amid nervous laughter from their assembled entourages, Mr Bush replied: "No question about it."

It is not the first time Mr Sata has bemoaned the waning role of the West in Africa. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph earlier this year, he said he was keen for his country's former colonial master Britain to increase its influence to counterbalance a now heavy Chinese presence against which he campaigned so fiercely in previous elections. "Better the devil you know than one you don't," he added.

The Bushes were 15 minutes late to State House, having driven 90 miles from the northern city of Kabwe, where they had opened a health clinic refurbished with their money which will offer cervical and breast cancer screening to locals.

As he awaited Mr Bush's arrival, Mr Sata complained to Priscilla Hernandez, the United States public affairs officer, that he did not like being kept waiting.

"Bush is former president; he is not the current president of the United States so I cannot be waiting for him," he said.

"The young man is lucky that he is the first American leader to have brought money to Africa through his Millennium Challenge Account; that's why I'm standing here. Otherwise if it was somebody else, I would have handed him over to one of my ministers to meet him."

Mr Sata's outburst is being viewed in some quarters as an embarrassing diplomatic incident.

But George Chellah, Mr Sata's spokesman, said the two men were "old friends" and the entire encounter had been "light-hearted".

"This talk of a diplomatic incident is invented by people bent on creating a storm in a teacup," he said.

A diplomatic source said the scene had been "awkward, but not really an incident". "You never know what to expect from Michael Sata," the source said.