WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday cancelled a scheduled trip to Indonesia and Australia to keep watch on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharonâs fight for life, officials said.State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Rice cancelled the five-day journey starting Saturday that would have taken her to Jakarta for talks with Indonesian officials and Sydney for strategic and climate-change discussions. âShe decided that because of the situation in the Middle East it was the right decision to stay in Washington,â McCormack told reporters.
He said the chief US diplomat on Friday had her first phone conversation with acting Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert since Sharon suffered a massive stroke on Wednesday.