US Secretary of State John Kerry speaks to the press prior to talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida at the State Deprtment in Washington on February 22, 2013. AFP PHOTO/Nicholas Kamm |
WASHINGTON:
Secretary of State John Kerry is embarking on his first official overseas
voyage, bringing new ideas to capitals in Europe and the Middle East on how to
end nearly two years of brutal violence in Syria.
Kerry leaves
Washington on Sunday on a grueling nine-nation, 10-day trip that will bring him
to America's traditional western European allies of Britain, Germany, France
and Italy along with Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and
Qatar. In addition to Syria, he will focus on conflicts in Mali and Afghanistan
and Iran's nuclear program.
Kerry has
said he is eager to discuss new ways of convincing Syrian President Bashar
Assad to step down and usher in a democratic transition in the country that has
been wracked by increasing violence that has killed at least 70,000 people. He
has not offered details of his ideas but officials say they revolve around
increasing pressure on Assad and his inner circle.
Kerry
begins his trip in London where he will see senior British officials on a range
of issues, from Afghanistan to the status of the Falkland Islands, over which
Britain is in a major dispute with Argentina.
He then
travels to Germany to discuss trans-Atlantic issues with German youth in
Berlin, where he spent time as a child as the son of an American diplomat
posted to the divided Cold War city. He will also meet with Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov in the German capital.
In Paris,
Kerry will discuss France's ongoing intervention in Mali. And in Rome, he'll
attend a meeting with Syrian opposition leaders.
U.S.
officials have said the trip will be primarily a "listening tour"
when it comes to Syria and won't result in immediate shifts in U.S. policy that
has until now stayed clear of military support for the rebels fighting Assad.
Despite the
numerous Middle East stops. Kerry will not travel to Israel or the Palestinian
territories. He will wait to visit them when he accompanies President Barack
Obama there in March.
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