Tory leader to attend US 'terror war' talks

British Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith was today visiting the US to attend a top level conference on the war against terrorism.

Mr Duncan Smith, on his first foreign trip since becoming opposition leader, is scheduled to have talks with leading members of the administration.

He is due to meet President George W Bush’s national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, Vice-President Dick Cheney, John Bolton, the Under-Secretary for international security at the State Department and Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz.

Mr Duncan Smith wants to underline his support for President Bush’s fight against terrorism and the war in Afghanistan.

With the debate in the US now focusing on the extent to which terrorists can be pursued in other countries, and Mr Bush’s desire for UN inspectors to be allowed into Iraq, the Conservative leader is expected to underline his support for that view.

Sources said: ‘‘Iain is sympathetic and believes the war cannot stop in Afghanistan, but he wants to find out more about it.’’

Mr Duncan Smith has been a regular visitor to the US for the last 10 years and has extensive contacts on Capitol Hill.

He met US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in February.

The Tory leader flies first to New York where he will spend the night before travelling on to Washington on Thursday for talks with US politicians. On Friday, he is due to take part in a major conference in the federal capital debating the next steps in the global battle against terrorism.

Mr Duncan Smith will be among a panel of four speakers at the gathering organised by the American Enterprise Institute, a top US think tank.

He returns to New York on Friday afternoon to meet Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and visit Ground Zero - the site of the World Trade Centre terrorist attacks on September 11.

He is scheduled to return to the UK on Saturday.