Aussie foreign minister heading for U.S.

CANBERRA, Australia, May 21 (UPI) -- Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer will discuss the war in Iraq and terrorism with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice this week.

Downer will spend three days in California at the invitation of Rice.

"Clearly we will be talking about Iraq and the Middle East, and about Asia -- in particular the North Korean question, which is a front of the mind issue for both of us," he told the Australian Broadcast Corp.

"We'll also be talking about counter-terrorism in southeast Asia and the progress that's been made there."