WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has put off plans to visit the Middle East despite the surge in violence and changes in the Palestinian Cabinet, the State Department said on Wednesday.
Armitage said last month he was planning a trip to Arab capitals some time in September. ''It's been quite a while since I've been out there and I need to touch base with our friends,'' he told the Arab television channel Al Jazeera.
But the State Department never fixed dates for any of the stops and Armitage did not decide whether to concentrate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or on U.S. problems in Iraq.
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