Clinton begins 4-nation tour in Kazakhstan

ASTANA, Kazakhstan -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday kicked off a four-nation diplomatic tour dogged by the WikiLeaks disclosure of U.S. diplomatic cables, an act she called an assault on the international community.

WikiLeaks' release of more than a quarter million diplomatic files came up as Clinton fielded questions from an audience of students and civic leaders at Eurasian University after meeting privately with several Kazakh women's rights and political leaders on her first visit to the nation.

Today Clinton is scheduled to attend a summit meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the first top-level meeting of the 56-nation group in 11 years. Also expected are many heads of government and top foreign affairs officials from across Europe, including some mentioned in the leaked diplomatic documents.

Clinton's trip was announced shortly after The New York Times and other international media began publishing stories Sunday based on the unauthorized release of diplomatic cables. Her trip had been planned much earlier.

Clinton also will visit the former Soviet republics of Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan for the first time in her nearly two years as secretary of state. She will then travel to Bahrain for a Middle East security summit.