Clinton plans goodwill visit to NZ

WASHINGTON - United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to visit New Zealand early next year.

US State Department officials will not confirm the visit until nearer Mrs Clinton's planned arrival date, which is expected to be in mid-January.

But the decision to put New Zealand in the Secretary of State's 2010 travel diary is a further signal that the United States wants relations normalised as quickly as possible.

In Washington yesterday, Mrs Clinton delivered a strong message to New Zealanders that despite President Barack Obama's decision to review the US military commitment in Afghanistan, they should feel confident that the Government's decision to send Special Air Service forces back to Afghanistan was the right one.

"When it comes to what we're doing together in Afghanistan, we consider New Zealand a full partner at the table," she said after meeting Foreign Minister Murray McCully at the State Department. "Your special forces, the SAS, are among the very best that are deployed."

Mrs Clinton's confirmation that New Zealand will be involved in the review is a feather in the cap for Mr McCully, who has worked hard to thaw any ill will.

Mrs Clinton will be the third female US Secretary of State to visit New Zealand, after Madeleine Albright in 1999 and Condoleezza Rice last year.

Herald inquiries indicate that the visit is likely to coincide with a planned trip to Australia in January for the annual meeting of the Australian and American foreign ministers.