Powell Adds Syria to His Trip to MideastUS Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday he was adding a brief stop in Syria during his upcoming trip to the Middle East.Syria was not included when Powell announced on Friday a five- day trip to the Middle East that begins February 23. "I am also going to be stopping in Damascus, Syria, to meet with President Bashir Assad, and I'll try to come back with an assessment of the situation so that I can present a report to President Bush as to what we should be doing," Powell said on CBS' "Face the Nation." "Syria is an important nation in the region, an important player in this whole process, and so I thought it was very, very appropriate for me, as part of this quick trip through the Middle East, my first trip, to also stop in Syria for just a few hours," Powell said. Announcing his first trip as secretary of state last Friday, Powell said he planed to visit Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel and the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West bank, Jordan, and to be in Kuwait on the 26th for the 10th Anniversary Gulf War celebrations. |
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