Senate run ‘to be reviewed during trip’
Cairo, Reuters
United States First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton toured mosques especially in the heart of old Cairo, her aides said on Sunday. Mrs. Clinton visited Islamic antiquities with her daughter Chelsea, who is on break from her studies at Stanford University in California.
Asked by a reporter how it felt to be abroad, Mrs. Clinton said “I feel wonderful.” Aides have said Mrs. Clinton would take a break during her trip from consideration of a run for a US Senate seat in 2000, the object of intense speculation in America.
Starting a 12-day tour of Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia, Mrs. Clinton was aiming on her first day to highlight Islamic contributions to culture as a way to help dispel suspicions between East and West.
She visited the Coptic Christian area of Cairo yesterday to call attention to Egypt’s tradition of religious diversity, ahead of a speech today urging religious tolerance. As Mrs. Clinton arrived at the Citadel, which has towered over Islamic Cairo since 1176, she apologized for running late because her plane was delayed by engine trouble in Washington and by poor weather in Ireland, from where her plane was forced to divert to England to refuel.
The two Clinton women donned headscarves as a mark of respect and visited the Mohammed Ali mosque, a many-domed, alabaster-walled splendor which was built at the Citadel by Mohammed Ali, the 19th-century founder of modern Egypt.