Okada-Clinton meeting OK after all

WASHINGTON--U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is prepared to meet Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada if Tokyo asks, the State Department said Monday.

After confusion because the State Department retracted an earlier announced date for their meeting, spokesman Ian Kelly said Clinton is "ready to meet with (Okada)" and that it is "up to the Japanese foreign minister" to decide.

The department initially said the two were to meet on Friday, but later retracted that date after it was reported by the media.

Kelly said the slipup was caused by the inadvertent leak of information intended for "planning and not for publication."

A senior official acknowledged the State Department was to blame for the slip, and added the date was retracted because it was obvious that a visit by Okada would first have to be authorized by the Diet.(IHT/Asahi: November 4,2009)