 Owona denied claims that the Anglophone population was politically marginalized in a January 2003 CNN report, arguing that Anglophones had appropriate representation in the nation's political structures and observing that the Prime Minister was an Anglophone.In March 2003, after Biya visited the United States and met with its President, George W. Bush, at the time of that country's invasion of Iraq, Owona defended the visit, stressing that Biya was working to advance Cameroon's interests.He said that the visit should not be perceived as marking a weakening of Cameroon's relationship with France and that it did not indicate an endorsement of the invasion.