US Defense secretary in the region this week
The US Department of Defense said on Monday that US Secretary of Defense William Cohen will leave Washington on Thursday for a Middle East tour covering Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Greece.
Senior officials at the US Department of Defense said that in Turkey Cohen will confer with Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz and talks will center on the operation monitoring the air embargo in northern Iraq, "Northern Watch."
In Jordan, Egypt and Israel, Cohen's talks will concentrate on the peace process. He will meet with the US peacekeeping troops in Sinai and meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.