Secretary of State John Kerry Starts First Mini-World Tour on Sunday - East Idaho News
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Secretary of State John Kerry Starts First Mini-World Tour on Sunday

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GETTY P 122110 JohnKerry?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1361352654728Brendan Smialowski/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State John Kerry will begin his sojourn as America’s top envoy by visiting nine countries in 11 days beginning on Sunday.

The State Department announced that Kerry will travel to London on Feb. 24 for talks on bilateral and global issues and then continue on to Germany, France, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.

Among his missions is attending meetings in Rome about the ongoing conflict Syria and meeting with the Syrian Opposition Coalition, which Washington hopes will eventually replace President Bashar al-Assad.

Visiting Israel is not on Kerry’s immediate agenda as the State Department has said he wants to wait until a new government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is formed.

However, Kerry will be on hand for President Obama’s visit to Israel in late March.

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