Rice To Visit Mideast, Europe

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders as part of a trip through the Middle East and Europe that begins this Friday.

The State Department announced the trip Monday, saying Ms. Rice will discuss Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip during her initial stops in Jerusalem and Ramallah.

From there, the secretary will head to Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and then Brussels, the site of a June 22nd U.S.-European Union meeting on Iraq.

Her final stop will be London, where she will make preparations for President Bush's attendance at the summit of the Group of Eight industrialized nations.