Rabat, Morocco/Washington - A day after the US clinched international approval for a nuclear trade deal with India, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended the George W Bush administration's record in halting nuclear proliferation.

Speaking to reporters in Rabat, Morocco, late Sunday, Rice cited the dismantling of the AQ Khan nuclear weapons' network, the proliferation security initiative that has stopped ships on the high seas carrying banned weapons cargo, Libya's renouncing weapons of mass destruction, the UN sanctions on Iran and progress in getting North Korea to dismantle its nuclear programme.

Rabat, Morocco/Washington - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saluted the democratic and economic reforms carried out in Morocco under King Mohammed VI.

Rice spoke Sunday in Rabat to reporters after having dinner the night before with Morrocan ministers, including her counterpart, Foreign Minister Fassi Fihri.

Rice and Fihri agreed that the US-Morocco Free Trade Agreement, which went into force in 2005, laid the basis for a new phase of development in Morocco and relations with the United States.

Rabat, Morocco/Washington - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Sunday dismissed allegations in a new book by one of the top US investigative reporters that she played politics in 2006 with growing violence in Iraq.

Rice, who spoke in Morocco during an ongoing trip through northern Africa, said that she had tried to avoid a review of Iraq during the 2006 mid-term elections to prevent the issue from becoming a political football.

Washington, Sept 7 : U. S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has warned that time is "very short" to get clearance for the Indo-US civil nuclear cooperation deal in the Congressional session, which begins on Monday.

Hailing the waiver given by the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Rice said: “The first thing is that we still have a little more to do on the determinations for the Hyde Act, and we will try to complete that.”

Rice made this statement at a round table with the travelling press in Algiers.

Tripoli/Washington - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi discussed common interests such as the fight against terrorism and laid the basis for cultural, trade and diplomatic ties during their historic meeting, Washington's chief diplomat said late Friday.

Lisbon - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Friday she was "very satisfied" with the European Union and United States sending a clear message of disapproval to Russia over the Georgia conflict.

The EU and US were achieving "results" in backing Georgia and showing Russia that "we do not accept this type of action," Rice said after meeting her Portuguese counterpart Luis Amado in Lisbon.

The US was satisfied with the EU's condemnation of Russia's recognition of the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Rice said.