The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Washington

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saw her revamped nuclear diplomacy stall on Iran but stay the pace on North Korea as she prepared to fly to the Middle East and Asia late Sunday.

In Abu Dhabi on Monday, Rice and Gulf Arab allies were to get a first-person account from her number-three envoy about his unprecedented but apparently fruitless participation in talks Saturday with the Iranians in Geneva.

With far more to show for her diplomacy on North Korea , Rice is due Wednesday and Thursday to visit Singapore and meet her North Korean counterpart at what could be the informal launch of the last stage of its denuclearization. Iran gave no sign it would comply with international calls to halt uranium enrichment, even though Undersecretary of State William Burns went to Geneva in a shift from past US policy of rejecting meetings with Iran until it yields.

Washington said it sent Burns to Geneva to show Washington is "serious" about backing diplomatic efforts to end a long standoff that has raised fears of Israeli or even US military strikes against Iran.

The diplomacy involves the five permanent UN Security Council members-the United States, China, Russia, Britain, and France-plus Germany. The West charges Iran with seeking nuclear weapons-charges denied by Iran.

US officials say Burns was to brief Rice in person as well as United Arab Emirates leaders and possibly other Sunni Gulf Arab allies who are concerned about both non-Arab Shiite Iran's nuclear ambitions and the risk of war.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, leading efforts for Iran to accept new incentives to stop enrichment, said in Geneva "it was a constructive meeting, but still we didn't get the answer to our questions."