White House hopeful Barack Obama, seeking to burnish his foreign policy credentials, announced Saturday he would visit major US allies in the Middle East and Europe before the November election.
   
The Democratic senator plans to discuss terrorism, nuclear proliferation and climate change when he speaks with the leaders of France, Germany, Britain, Jordan and Israel, his campaign said.
   
"This trip will be an important opportunity for me to assess the situation in countries that are critical to American national security, and to consult with some of our closest friends and allies about the common challenges we face," Obama said in a statement.
   
The campaign did not divulge any dates, but the trips will likely take place this summer before the race between Obama and Republican rival John McCain intensifies after party conventions in August and September.
   
London's Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Obama would be in Britain in mid-July.
   
Obama announced earlier this month plans to visit Iraq and Afghanistan before the election as part of a congressional delegation, but the war-ravaged countries were not mentioned in the campaign statement. Such trips are usually kept secret for security reasons.
   
"In Iraq, my goal is to talk to the Iraqi leadership about making political progress so that we can start phasing down our troops in Iraq," Obama told the Radio Iowa network on Saturday.
   
"And obviously I want to congratulate the troops for the extraordinary work they've done in reducing violence there," he said.
   
In Afghanistan, which Obama argues is the real front of the "war on terror," the Democrat said the "situation, unfortunately, has not been improving."
   
"On many measures, things have been getting a little bit worse so the key is to talk to our commanders on the ground and find out what do we need to do to strengthen our efforts there," he said.
   
"Our troops have performed magnificently, but we don't probably have enough troops there."
   
McCain, who has visited Iraq eight times, has criticized Obama for visiting the country only once two years ago.
   
The Republican candidate, a 71-year-old Vietnam war veteran who has been in Congress for 26 years, has sought to paint the 46-year-old junior senator from Illinois as too green to take over as America's commander-in-chief.
   
Obama was an early opponent of the Iraq war and wants most US combat troops pulled out of the country and resources diverted to Afghanistan. McCain is a staunch supporter of the US military presence in the war-torn country.
   
Seeking to beat back a perceived weakness with Jewish voters and Republican claims he is naive on national security, Obama has poured lavish praise on Israel in recent weeks, angering Iran and the Palestinians.
   
"Israel is a strong and close friend of the United States, and is confronting grave threats from Gaza to Tehran," Obama said Saturday, while describing Jordan as a "close partner in the peace process."
   
In his first foreign policy speech of the general election campaign in early June, Obama said Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel and that any Israel-Palestinian peace deal must preserve Israel's integrity as a Jewish state.
   
McCain has criticized Obama for his vow to talk with US foes including Iran and Syria. He has also seized on comments made by a Hamas official about Obama describing the Democrat as the favored candidate of the Islamist movement, which the US government lists as a terrorist organization.
   
In Europe, Obama will visit the three countries that have worked closely with Washington in efforts to force Iran to halt uranium enrichment, which the Western powers fear would be used to build a nuclear weapon.
   
France, Germany and Britain have also been close allies in the war in Afghanistan.
   
"France, Germany, and the United Kingdom are key anchors of the transatlantic alliance and have contributed to the mission in Afghanistan, and I look forward to discussing how we can strengthen our partnership in the years to come," Obama said in his statement.