Well, we have only these two pictures. It is interesting that, while I try to cover her arrivals and departures here, it is often difficult to find the information pictorial or written. Dipnote used to tweet the information, but that all changed some time ago. So, when I find a few pictures to assure us that she has either arrived or departed, I post them.
This evening, however, the local news covered the arrival, not of the Secretary of State, but of her Deputy Chief of Staff. I will not be touching upon the related story here. It is a personal situation for the people involved. The blog is here to cover the work of the Secretary of State since, clearly, the mainstream media fails.
- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is greeted by Tarek al haidan, deputy minister of state for foreign affairs, upon her arrival at the airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, June 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is greeted by Tarek al haidan, deputy minister of state for foreign affairs, upon her arrival at the airport in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, June 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, Pool)
I am tacking on this press briefing by Victoria Nuland that took place en route. As far as I have seen, this is her first official act as Department Spokesperson and her first official trip in that capacity. We all wish her success in her new position
Briefing En Route Abu Dhabi, UAE
Special Briefing
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the SpokespersonAbu Dhabi, United Arab EmiratesJune 8, 2011
MS. NULAND: Okay. So we are headed to Abu Dhabi for the third Contact Group meeting. As you know, these have been happening monthly, alternating between Europe and the region. The first was in Doha, then in Rome, and now in Abu Dhabi. With each meeting, international pressure is growing and momentum is building for change in Libya. Not only does the Contact Group allow us to sustain the coalition, it also allows us to reinvest all these countries in our common effort and to concert views on our next steps.
And while the main focus of this meeting is obviously on Libya, the Secretary will also have a chance to use her meetings with a broad cross-section of European and Arab partners to talk about the evolving situations in Syria, Yemen and Bahrain and to sustain our support for the democratic transitions in Egypt and Tunisia.
More broadly, the Contact Group reflects the President and the Secretary’s model for diplomacy in the 21st century. It’s a flexible mechanism which allows us to build and sustain a broad coalition of like-minded states and international organizations which are united in common purpose to advance a shared agenda of peace, security, and democratic reform, and to translate that agenda into common action.
