Rice, UK’s Straw to do diplomatic duet in US South

LONDON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
will host Britain’s Foreign Secretary Jack Straw in the United
States for a three-day, stage-managed tour with political
overtones.

Rice announced next week’s trip as she flew into London on
Saturday for heavyweight talks with Straw on bolstering
international support for their hard line against Iran’s
nuclear ambitions.

Jim Wilkinson, her image guru, outlined a program of U.S.
events, including the two taking center-stage for the opening
coin toss at an American football game, indicating the unusual
tour was more photo opportunity than foreign policy.

Their time together in Alabama, the place Rice grew up in
the racially divided South, will include serious speeches on
civil rights and minorities, Wilkinson said, noting Straw’s
parliamentary constituency had a large Muslim population.

Rice, the most prominent black official in the Bush
administration, will also use the visit to thank people who
helped victims of Hurricane Katrina in nearby Louisiana and
Mississippi.

Sluggish relief efforts for Katrina and images of many poor
blacks begging for help from mainly white rescuers became a
lightning rod for criticism that President George W. Bush does
not care enough about blacks. The Bush administration is
working to overcome such perceptions.

Rice has traveled extensively abroad as secretary of state
but her domestic trips have typically been short, focused on
policy and without guests.

Wilkinson said the new venture with the top diplomat from
Washington’s closest ally was a way of showing off “the best of
America.”