NEWS RELEASE

Posted: Dec. 3, 2002

BIDEN: MIDDLE EAST TRIP WITH HAGEL

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Joe Biden (D-DE) and senior
Republican committee member Chuck Hagel (R-NE) will travel to the Middle East to
meet with several Heads of State to discuss issues of national security,
including the war on terrorism, Iraq, and the conflict between Israel and the
Palestinians.

Senators Biden and Hagel also will be briefed at Central Command (CentCom)
Headquarters in Doha, Qatar by General Tommy Franks.  The Senators also will
meet with Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani in Frankfurt, Germany. Highlights of
the trip will include:

Dec. 4 -- Frankfurt, Germany: Meeting with Masoud Barzani - Head of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party.

Amman, Jordan: Meeting with His Royal Majesty King Abdullah.

Dec. 5 -- Ramallah, West Bank: Meeting with Hani al-Hassan, Palestinian Minister of
Interior and Saeb Erekat, Palestinian Minister of Local Government Affairs.

Jerusalem, Israel: Meeting with Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Meeting with Efraim Halevy, National Security Advisor, National Security Council.

Dec. 8 -- Doha, Qatar: Briefing with Gen. Tommy Franks, Combat Commander, Central Command (CentCom) and meet with troops from Delaware and Nebraska.
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: Meeting with Crown Prince Abdullah.

Dec. 9 -- Damascus, Syria: Meeting with President Bashar al-Assad.
Ankara, Turkey: Meeting with President Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister
Abdullah Gul.

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