Rice: US has 'no better friend' than Britain

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has told the first news conference of her whistle-stop visit to the UK: "This is my first step on what is indeed going to be a bit of a whirlwind around Europe and the Middle East.

“I decided to come first to Britain because we have no better friend. We have no better ally. We have done so much together and we still have so much to do together.

“We deeply value the close relationship between our two countries and of course we share so much … we stand together on the war on terror.

“We have watched remarkable events in Iraq, the Palestinian territories and in Afghanistan, as people demonstrate once again that the goal of freedom, the aspirations of freedom is truly universal.

“The United Kingdom and the United States understand that aspiration for freedom and we are determined to support people who seek that freedom.

“By helping people build free and democratic nations our common efforts will also make us safer, because we have learned time and time again, that America, Britain, Europe, the free world, is indeed safest when freedom is on the march and when freedom is in retreat, we are indeed vulnerable.”