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UK Secretary in DC to Mend Fences With US

Miliband eases Bush-Brown chill, backs Rice's Iran approach

By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff

Posted Oct 23, 2007 9:30 AM CDT

(Newser) – The British foreign secretary arrived in Washington last night, and David Miliband now faces the unenviable task of mending a deepening rift between the Bush administration and Gordon Brown. The speed of the UK's pullback in Basra—not to mention the PM's coolness toward President Bush—has irked a White House accustomed to Bush-Blair coziness, the Telegraph reports.

Miliband, a Blairite, held a joint press conference with Condoleezza Rice last night at which he insisted that the US-UK alliance was his government's "single most important bilateral relationship." He also sought to shore up the secretary of state's insistence on pursuing a diplomatic solution in Iran—a position fast losing popularity among administration hawks.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and visiting U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband, left,  respond to questions at a joint news conference at the Department of State in Washington, Monday, Oct. 22, 2007.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and visiting U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband, left, respond to questions at a joint news conference at the Department of State in Washington, Monday, Oct....   (Associated Press)
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, left, listens as British Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Gordon Brown, right, talks to him during the Labour party conference in Bournemouth, England, Tuesday Sept. 25, 2007. Miliband is in Washington.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, left, listens as British Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Gordon Brown, right, talks to him during the Labour party conference in Bournemouth, England,...   (Associated Press)
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, looks on as British Foreign Secretary David Miliband gestures towards the British press as they wait for the arrival of President Bush and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Monday, July 30, 2007, at Camp David, Md. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, looks on as British Foreign Secretary David Miliband gestures towards the British press as they wait for the arrival of President Bush and British Prime Minister...   (Associated Press)
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and visiting U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband, left, arrive to take questions at a joint news conference at the Department of State in Washington, Monday, Oct. 22, 2007.   (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and visiting U.K. Foreign Secretary David Miliband, left, arrive to take questions at a joint news conference at the Department of State in Washington, Monday,...   (Associated Press)
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