Condoleezza Rice says Bush made the Middle-East a better place

Malaysia Sun Monday 20th October, 2008

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said she believes the Middle East is a better place for the policies of President George Bush.

Speaking to the BBC, Ms Rice insisted that a US-inspired "freedom agenda" had taken hold in the Middle East.

She told her interviewer she was especially proud of the situation in the Palestinian territories, and said: "I don't think that you have had an administration that has more actively been seeking a Palestinian state. The Palestinians now have a peace process that is the most serious one in many many years."

Ms Rice also said Iraq had become a "good Arab friend" of America which, she said, far from being destroyed, had been fully integrated into the Arab world.

Elsewhere, Syrian forces were out of Lebanon and women had the vote in Kuwait, she noted.

She said the US would need to remain wary of Iran, but would still need to be prepared to negotiate on Iran’s nuclear push.

Ms Rice said: "What we don't want to do is to give Iran cover to continue improving its nuclear programs that could lead to a nuclear weapon."