US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton departed for the Middle East and Europe late Saturday to start her second overseas tour in her current capacity.

Clinton will first make a stop at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh Monday, where she will attend a donors conference on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. She will later travel to Israel and the West Bank.

During her stay in Brussels Thursday, Clinton will have a meeting with her counterparts from NATO member states.

On Friday, Clinton is scheduled to meet in Geneva with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2009)