The Bush administration is coming under criticism for giving a warm reception to a leader widely decried as one of the world’s most brutal living dictators. In Washington last week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice greeted Equatorial Guinean President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, whom she called: “a good friend.” Obiang has ruled Equatorial Guinea since 1979. According to the neo conservative group Freedom House, only seven countries rank worse in respect for political and civil liberties. In an editorial that appeared Tuesday, the Washington Post said: “If President Bush and Ms. Rice want anyone to take their pro-democracy rhetoric seriously, they must stop throwing bouquets to odious dictators.”