Rice starts trip to cement alliance with Australia

SYDNEY, Mar 16 (Reuters) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice began a three-day trip to Australia today to thank one of America's closest allies for keeping troops in Iraq and to discuss China's emergence as an Asia-Pacific power.

With sectarian violence rising in Iraq, the United States is anxious to retain as many foreign forces as it can there. Australia has promised to keep troops in Iraq into 2007.

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said before his meeting with Rice that it would be wrong to abandon Iraq now and leave the country in the hands of ''terrorists'' and loyalists of ousted Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

''I think we see it through - it's difficult but I think we can succeed,'' Downer told Australian television yesterday.

Australia's involvement in Iraq has been unpopular among many Australians and opinion polls have shown dwindling support for the mission there.

As an original member of the ''coalition of the willing'' that supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, Australia was one of the first countries to commit forces and still has about 1,300 troops stationed there, mostly in the south.

Later on Thursday, after having lunch on a US warship on a port call to Sydney, Rice will give a speech on Iraq and field questions from students during which she is expected to try and quash the view that Iraq is edging closer to civil war.

''Dr Rice and her Australian hosts will doubtless sing from the same crumpled song-sheet on the Iraq mess,'' commented The Sydney Morning Herald in an editorial today.

CHINA'S RISE The top US diplomat is set to have dinner today with Prime Minister John Howard, who has been satirised as the US ''deputy sheriff'' for Asia because of his close ties to President George W Bush.

''Australia's been with us through many a war and many a conflict and always on the side of trying to promote democracy and freedom. And so this is just a very strong relationship,'' Rice said ahead of her nine-day trip, which also took her to Chile and Indonesia.

But one issue where there is some strain between the two sides is the rise of China, which the United States fears will become a ''negative force'' in the region while Australia sees it as more of an economic opportunity.

Rice is to join foreign ministers from Australia and Japan on the last day of her trip on Saturday for trilateral security talks expected to focus on China as well as Iran and North Korea.

Australia sees those talks not as an opportunity to harness China's growing power but rather to find ways of giving Beijing a more positive international role.

Rice will visit Melbourne on Friday where she is expected to attend swimming events at the Commonwealth Games and personally thank Australian troops at a barracks in the city.

REUTERS SK RAI0613