15 Jan 2010

Clinton rules out PNG visit this year

2:26 pm on 15 January 2010

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has assured Papua New Guinea that she will visit the country, but not this year.

Mrs Clinton was due to spend six hours in Port Moresby yesterday but decided to end her trip in Hawaii and return to Washington to deal with the disaster in Haiti.

Her visit would have been the first by a US secretary of state since 1998.

Meanwhile, the US ambassador to New Zealand says discussions are already underway to try to re-schedule Mrs Clinton's postponed visit.

He says no-one is more disappointed about the postponement than Mrs Clinton herself.