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WASHINGTON, February 21, 2012 (AFP)
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will head to Tunisia this week for a major conference on violence-torn Syria and also stop in nearby Algeria and Morocco, the State Department said Tuesday.
Clinton will take part in talks Friday and Saturday in Tunisia of the “Friends of Syria” group, which US officials hope will show support for the opposition and put pressure on President Bashar al-Assad amid intense violence.
The trip is “part of our ongoing efforts with our friends, allies and the Syrian opposition to crystallize next steps to halt the slaughter of the Syrian people and pursue a transition to democracy in Syria,” the State Department said in a statement.
Russia, a longtime supporter of Assad, has said it will not take part in the Tunis talks. China, which joined Russia in vetoing UN Security Council resolutions on Syria, has not announced whether it will participate.
Clinton will start her trip with a meeting Thursday in London aimed at bringing stability to another war-torn country, Somalia, which has lacked an effective government for two decades despite repeated efforts.
After the Tunisia talks, Clinton will head to Algeria for talks with President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and then to Morocco to see Prime Minister Abdelilah Benkirane and break ground on a new US embassy.
Clinton’s swing through North Africa comes amid a wave of uprisings against authoritarian leaders in the Arab world that started with the overthrow of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia in early 2011.
