Rice to visit Canada on September 11 anniversary

WASHINGTON, Sep 8 (Reuters) U S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Nova Scotia on the fifth anniversary of September 11, 2001, to thank Canada for taking in scores of flights diverted after the attacks on New York and Washington, U S officials said today.

Rice will travel to Halifax, where more than three dozen flights were sent when U S airspace was closed out of fear more planes might be turned into weapons like those that struck the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon.

''That was just an extraordinary act of trust, generosity and kindness in a moment of need, and Secretary Rice wanted to travel to Canada to thank the Canadian government and the Canadian people,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

According to Canadian figures, more than 200 diverted flights landed in Canada on September 11, leaving thousands of passengers stranded during the nearly three days U S airspace was closed.

Rice will also visit the town of Stellarton, which is in the parliamentary district of Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay, before returning to Washington on Tuesday.

Her visit appeared, in part, to be a mark of favor for Canada's Conservative government, which won power in a January 23 election.

The Bush administration had strained relations with Canada's previous Liberal government, which refused to take part in the U S-led attack on Iraq.

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