Focus on Syria as Kerry embarks on first official trip
Will discuss Assad with U.S. allies
WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry embarked Sunday on his first official overseas voyage in a diplomatic mission to bring new ideas to capitals in Europe and the Middle East on how to end nearly two years of brutal violence in Syria.
Kerry left Washington to start a gruelling nine-nation, 10-day trip that will take him to America’s traditional western European allies of Britain, Germany, France and Italy along with Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In addition to Syria, he will focus on conflicts in Mali and Afghanistan and Iran’s nuclear program.
Kerry has said he is eager to discuss new ways of convincing Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down and usher in a democratic transition in the country that has been wracked by increasing violence that has killed at least 70,000 people.
Kerry begins his trip in London where he will see senior British officials on a range of issues, from Afghanistan to the status of the Falkland Islands, over which Brit- ain is in a major dispute with Argentina.
He then travels to Germany to discuss trans-Atlantic issues with German youth in Berlin. He will also meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in the German capital. In Paris, Kerry will discuss France’s ongoing intervention in Mali. And in Rome, he’ll attend a meeting with Syrian opposition leaders.