 |
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses
State Department employees on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005 in Washington.
(AP) |
Condoleezza Rice worked the phones on her first day on the job as
America's top diplomat Thursday, reaching out to European allies and
partners in the war on terrorism and echoing President Bush's inaugural
charge to promote liberty across the globe.
"The president has set
forth a really bold agenda for American foreign
policy," Rice said in a brief address to State Department employees who
applauded as she entered the lobby. "I can't think of a better call than
to say that America will stand for freedom and for liberty, that America
will stand with those who want their aspirations met for liberty and
freedom."
Among dozens of phone calls with foreign ministers and heads of
government, Rice spoke Thursday with Pakistan's President Pervez
Musharraf, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Italian Foreign
Minister Gianfranco Fini.
Lavrov congratulated Rice on her confirmation and discussed the
upcoming meeting between Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin in
Slovakia, a statement from the Russian foreign ministry said.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Masood Khan said Musharraf also
congratulated Rice and that the two "briefly discussed Pakistan-U.S.
relations as well as regional and international issues of mutual
interest."
Rice has a heavy task to rebuild European and other alliances worn thin
by international opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq, and to help guide
Middle East peace efforts after the death of Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat. The war, which has claimed the lives of more than 1,400 U.S.
troops, plus looming diplomatic and security problems in Iran and North
Korea also top Rice's agenda.
Rice will travel quickly to the Middle East and Europe, the State
Department said Thursday. The eight-day trip begins next week, ahead of
Bush's own planned fence-mending trip to Europe later in February.
Secretary Rice and her designated deputy, Robert Zoellick, plan to
visit all NATO capitals in the next few months, starting with this trip to
Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland and Turkey,
State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. He gave no precise
details or dates of each stop.
In France, Rice plans to give her first major speech as secretary of
state. Boucher said Rice will discuss NATO and separate European
government help for training Iraqi security forces.
As part of the same trip, Rice will meet with leaders on both sides of
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Israel and the West Bank, Boucher
said.
"She will, first of all, look to hear from them about the opportunities
and how they're proceeding," Boucher said.
Foreign travel will probably take much of Rice's time for her first
year or so in office, although contacts from her last job mean she needs
fewer introductions to international leaders than many new secretaries of
state.
Rice's large collection of football memorabilia and shelves of her
personal books were waiting for her in her new office. In announcing her
nomination, Bush joked that Rice's dream job would be commissioner of the
National Football League.
Bush was to attend Rice's ceremonial swearing-in on Friday. She assumed
her duties as the country's 66th secretary of state Wednesday night, after
an unexpectedly bruising Senate confirmation process. Senate Democrats
harshly criticized her performance planning for war as Bush's White House
national security adviser, her stance on U.S. torture policies and other
topics.
Rice has been heavily involved in U.S. planning for the Iraqi elections
to be held Sunday. She attended a lengthy meeting on the elections at the
White House on Thursday. She planned several television appearances Sunday
to discuss the elections, although it is not clear when voting results
will be available.
(Agencies) |