WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday she would visit the Philippines after an upcoming trip to Singapore to "show solidarity" with the storm-battered nation.

Typhoon Mirinae slammed into the Philippines this week, killing 27 people and leaving almost 16,000 others huddled in evacuation centers.

Mirinae swept over the main island Luzon on Saturday, dumping heavy rain and bringing strong winds just weeks after Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma left about 1,100 dead and tens of thousands homeless.

"I'll be going to the Philippines, to show solidarity with our friends in the Philippines who have been battered by typhoons and have just suffered so much over the last weeks," said Clinton.

Her trip begins with a stop in Berlin at the weekend to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, and she was due to give a speech there Sunday at the Atlantic Council.

Clinton, along with US Trade Representative Ron Kirk, will then attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) ministerial meeting in Singapore in the following days.

The ministerial meeting is scheduled for November 11-12, ahead of the APEC summit, at which President Barack Obama will make his inaugural appearance.
APEC finance ministers will also hold meetings that week.

US officials say Clinton is due in the Philippines right after the Singapore trip.

Kurt Tong, the State Department's pointman on APEC, said this week the various APEC meetings, including those attended by Clinton, will focus on economic recovery following the massive global slowdown.


- AFP /ls