Washington: Republican presidential hopeful John McCain planned to visit Europe and the Middle East this coming week to burnish his statesman credentials as Democrats brawl back home.

While McCain prepared for the trip, Democrat Barack Obama was under fire on two fronts, over controversial remarks his pastor made about the September 11 attacks and his ties to a businessman facing corruption charges. McCain, who touts his foreign affairs experience over Obama and Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, leads a congressional delegation from Tuesday to meet the leaders of Jordan, Israel, Britain and France, his office said.

But off the official schedule is a weekend trip to Iraq, where he will see firsthand the effects of the troop "surge" which he has fervently advocated even as US public support for the war slumped, the Washington Post reported. The delegation was to meet with US military officials and Iraq's leaders to assess the success of the surge strategy that deployed more soldiers to Iraq, the Post said.

When contacted by AFP, McCain campaign aides were not able to confirm the Iraq leg of the trip. Observers said the trip will give several heads of state a closer look at one of the three candidates battling for the White House. "The people he's going to meet with are going to try to find out from him what he would do as president," Jim Steinberg, a dean of public affairs at the University of Texas, told the daily.

McCain stressed that the overseas trip is not political but part of his role as the top Republican in the Democrat-led Senate Armed Services Committee.

Source : PTI