US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright is to travel to Rome this week to confer with the Vatican on the Middle East peace talks and the status of Jerusalem, the State Department said in Tokyo Sunday.
Albright, who was originally scheduled to return home to the United States on Monday after a two-country tour of Asia, will instead fly to Rome, said US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
She would meet with the Vatican's secretary for foreign relations, Monsignor Jean-Louis Tauran on Tuesday, he said.
"The purpose of the meeting is to bring him up-to-date on the Middle East peace process," Boucher told reporters traveling with Albright. "This has been an area of great interest to the Vatican."
Albright's trip will coincide with the beginning of a marathon tour by US Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Edward Walker, who will visit at least 12 nations in the Arab world beginning this week - TOKYO (AFP)
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