WASHINGTON (AP) - Officials say Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has pulled out of a weeklong trip to the Arab world because of a stomach virus.
The news of Clinton canceling her trip came on the heels of the Obama administration declaring a Syrian rebel group with alleged ties to al-Qaida as a terrorist organization.
The announcement was one of several Clinton planned to bring with her to North Africa and the Middle East as part a U.S. effort to enhance cooperation with moderates in the Syrian coalition fighting President Bashar Assad's regime, and to isolate extremists in their ranks.
Clinton's deputy, Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, will take her place in Morocco, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates.
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