Rice seeks Arab backing for Iraq plan

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice headed for the Middle East to rally Arab support for a new US strategy in the Iraq war and to counter Iran's alleged interference in Iraq.

The week-long tour also will seek to bolster efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with Rice scheduled to hold talks in Israel and the Palestinian territories on Saturday and Sunday.

Rice will then travel to Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Germany and Britain before returning to Washington on January 19.

The trip comes two days after President George W Bush presented his last-ditch strategy to quell violence in Iraq with the deployment of an additional 21,500 troops.

Bush also declared a new initiative against Iranian and Syrian elements which the US accuses of destabilizing Iraq, while stepping up the US military presence in the Gulf.

Signalling a tougher approach, US forces on Thursday detained six Iranians in a night-time swoop on an office in northern Iraq, prompting protests from Iran.

Before her departure, Rice told lawmakers in Congress her trip will focus heavily on rallying the support of those responsible Arab states to support the government of Iraq, to support what needs to be done there, to support, of course, also Lebanon and the moderate Palestinians."

In an interview Rice said, "It was ultimately up to the Iraqi leadership to restore security. Bush's plan very much puts Iraqis at the center of responsibility for dealing with what is their most urgent problem."