Under Secretary Hughes visits Egypt

CAIRO, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes denounced Islamic militancy and defended the Bush administrations policies on her first official trip to Egypt.

Hughes started her two-day stay in Egypt by visiting Muhammad Sayyed Tantawi, the spiritual leader at the University of al-Ashar al-Sharif. He was one of the first Muslim leaders to condemn the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Hughes spoke to a friendly audience of Egyptian high school students who had been exchange students in the United States, about the U.S. attempt to foster democracy and elections in the Middle East.

She is attempting to present an upbeat and positive vision of American policies in the Middle East, while U.S. popularity has fallen to new lows.

"I understand that many of the concerns are deep-seated" Hughes told the New York Times. "I'm probably not going to change many minds."

She will visit Saudi Arabia and Turkey later in the week.