Kerry makes first major trip as chairman

WASHINGTON, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- U.S. Sen. John Kerry's first major trip as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be to Southwest Asia, his office said Monday.

The Massachusetts Democrat will be joined by Vice President-elect Joe Biden, the committee's outgoing chairman, on the fact-finding trip this week, The Boston Globe reported Monday.

The congressional delegation will also include Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the newspaper said.

For security reasons, details of the trip were not disclosed.

Kerry last month traveled to Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Republic of Georgia and India, where he met with, among others, Presidents Asif Ali Zardari, Hamid Karzai, Mikheil Saakashvili, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.