U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry swapped his Mideast peace portfolio for issues in emerging Southeast Asia when he landed Monday in Brunei for a regional security conference, AP reported. The tiny sultanate in the South China Sea, where he is attending the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Regional Forum, is the last stop on Kerry's two-week tour of seven countries in Asia and the Middle East. He landed in Brunei's capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, after flying overnight from Tel Aviv, where he spent four days in long meetings trying to get Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating table. On the sidelines of the ASEAN conference, Kerry is scheduled to have a lengthy chat with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov that likely will center on the Syrian crisis.
