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

Posted on: Saturday, 15 October 2005, 14:09 CDT

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."

Source: REUTERS

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