Clinton To Meet With Egyptian Transition Leaders

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, pictured here on March 14 in Paris

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is flying to Egypt today for talks with the leaders running the country after the ouster of longtime autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.

She is expected to press them to follow through on pledges for democratic reform. She will also speak with activists of the mass protests that forced Mubarak to step down.

On March 16, Clinton travels to Tunisia, where the wave of popular rebellion now gripping the Middle East began in December.

Clinton will be heading to the Middle East from Paris, where foreign ministers of the Group of Eight leading nations met to discuss the conflict in Libya.

She also held talks with Libyan opposition figure, Mahmud Jibril, on the battle between antigovernment rebels there and forces loyal to longtime leader Muammar Qaddafi..

compiled from agency reports