Negroponte to attend Arctic conference: US

0 Comments | AFP, May, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — John Negroponte, the US deputy secretary of state, will travel to Greenland for an international conference next week about territorial claims in the oil-rich Arctic, the State Department said Wednesday.

"Negroponte will lead the United States delegation to the Arctic Ocean Conference hosted by the Government of Denmark in Ilulissat, Greenland, May 27-29," it said in a statement.

Pointing out that Canada, Russia and Norway will send high-level delegates to the conference, it added, "Negroponte looks forward to these discussions as well as bilateral meetings with his counterparts."

The State Department did not elaborate.

Denmark's Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller has said that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice could not attend...