Condoleezza

CAIRO, Egypt -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice received measured support from Egypt yesterday for an Israeli-Palestinian peace conference despite widespread doubts in the Middle East that it will result in a lasting deal or improve security in the region. Rice's trip to Cairo was a diplomatic effort to convince Arab capitals to attend the Bush administration's summit, which has no official date but is expected to take place before year's end in Annapolis; Israeli officials have said it is expected to begin Nov. 26. Egypt has been skeptical of the idea for weeks, but after meeting with Rice, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a news conference that he backed the plan.

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey's foreign minister urged the Bush administration yesterday to replace its words with action as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Ankara for meetings aimed at preventing Turkey from attacking Kurdish militants in northern Iraq. Foreign Minister Ali Babacan, expressing his country's frustration with continuing attacks, said, "We need action. ... This is where the words end and the action needs to start." With Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan scheduled to meet with President Bush in the White House on Monday, Rice went to Turkey with hopes of setting a diplomatic course for easing the conflict among the Turks, the Kurdish militant group PKK and the Kurdish regional government in Iraq, which the Turks think supports the militants.

BLACKBURN, England -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice heard passionate complaints yesterday from British Muslims about U.S. polices in Iraq, toward the Palestinians and at the American-run detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Some of the complaints were voiced respectfully by Muslim leaders who met with Rice. Others were chanted, shouted and screamed by anti-Iraq-war protesters, who were present almost everywhere the secretary went during what her team planned as a goodwill visit.

Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met yesterday with Syria's foreign minister at a summit here, the first formal encounter between the two countries' top diplomats in more than three years. Neither side claimed a major breakthrough, but U.S. officials suggested that other meetings with Syria could follow, an indication that the Bush administration might be shifting its policy of trying to isolate a Damascus regime that it considers a sponsor of terrorism.

ARLINGTON, Va. - She spoke with authority. That was my first impression of National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice as she faced the commission investigating how 9/11 happened and what might be done to prevent future attacks on American soil. Mere mortals would have melted during the three hours of sometimes-intense questioning, but Ms. Rice didn't even break a sweat. One might have thought she was engaging in after-dinner conversation and not the high drama that persuaded the three broadcast networks to interrupt the banalities they usually carry in the morning for something - and someone - of substance.

KABUL, Afghanistan - Touring this grim, forlorn nation whose political transformation she helped design, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said yesterday that reconstruction aid remains one of "the very high priorities of this administration" even as the House voted to cut $570 million in assistance. In a six-hour visit, Rice saw only a glimpse of the country that has been so central to the war on terrorism. But there were inescapable signs that despite U.S. efforts to bring democracy to Afghanistan, its apparently intractable struggles are far from over.

CAIRO, Egypt - In a reflection of the Bush administration's new global priorities, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered a high-profile call for political reform in the Middle East yesterday and urged Egypt to lead the way. In her speech, billed by aides as the main public event of her weeklong trip to the Middle East and Europe, Rice told an invitation-only audience of about 600 of the country's Westernized elite at the American University in...

JERUSALEM -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought to play down expectations yesterday as she began several days of shuttle diplomacy designed to nudge Israelis and Palestinians closer to the bargaining table in advance of a Middle East peace conference. Rice met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, and was expected to go to Ramallah today for a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. "I don't expect ... that there will be any particular outcome in the sense of breakthroughs," Rice told reporters on a flight from Moscow to Tel Aviv, Israel.

WASHINGTON - For all Condoleezza Rice's practiced skill at defending President Bush, her long-awaited grilling by the Sept. 11 commission yesterday raised new questions about how attentive her boss was to the threat of a terrorist attack and whether he is following the right strategy for defending the country by waging war in Iraq. Bush didn't have to read beyond the title of an intelligence document he received while on vacation in Texas on Aug. 6, 2001, to know that Osama bin Laden's ambition went beyond overseas attacks - which were the focus of most of what Rice said was the terrorist threat information received up to that point.

CAIRO, Egypt -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, touring the Middle East in an attempt to build support for U.S. goals and allies here, found herself on the defensive yesterday about the Bush administration's search for partnerships and its democratic reform efforts. Meeting in Cairo with ministers of eight moderate Arab governments, Rice was questioned on whether her desire to work with them masked an American desire to line up allies against the growing power of Iran. She was challenged by the Egyptian foreign minister and a dubious local press on whether President Bush's campaign of democratic reform was anything more than meddling by a country that doesn't accept election results it doesn't like.