Rice set to make fence-mending trip to Spain

Washington, May 22: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will make a brief visit to Spain next week, the State Department said today, her first to Madrid as the top US diplomat after years of tense relations.

US-Spanish ties have been particularly strained since Spain withdrew its troops from Iraq in 2004 following the election of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero who trounced Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, a close ally of President George W Bush.

''Every relationship has some bumps in the road, but you work through those in a respectful way and try to build up mutual understanding so you don't talk past one another,'' State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said of Rice's visit.

Aside from Iraq, the two countries have differences over Cuba, with Spain favoring constructive engagement versus the Bush administration's isolation policy. There have also been tensions over Madrid's dealings with Venezuela's strongly anti-US President Hugo Chavez.

McCormack said Rice, who would be in Madrid for only a few hours on June 1, planned to meet her counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos to discuss issues from trade and counter-terrorism to transatlantic relations.

''So this is just an opportunity for her to sit down with Foreign Minister Moratinos, as well as other members of the Spanish government, to talk through those issues,'' he added.

Before going to Spain, Rice is scheduled to visit Potsdam, Germany, to join ministers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations before a summit next month of presidents of the G8.

Iran's nuclear ambitions, Afghanistan, the future of Kosovo, climate change and a host of other issues are expected to be on the G8 agenda, McCormack said.

After Germany, Rice is set to visit Vienna for a round-table with women political leaders who will discuss peace and security issues in the Middle East, said McCormack.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Egypt's Suzanne Mubarak, President Hosni Mubarak's wife, are among Middle Eastern political figures expected to attend that event along with Rice.

Rice held a networking session with women leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly last September and the Vienna meeting is a follow on from that, said McCormack.

REUTERS KK PM0207>