LONDON (AFP) – Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew back to the US from Britain Friday after a brief stopover when she secured backing from King Abdullah II of Jordan for a Middle East peace conference in November.

Rice left London’s Heathrow airport after spending less than 24 hours in the city which she visited following a four-day tour of the Middle East.

On Thursday, Rice’s spokesman Sean McCormack said she and the king “had a good exchange on the work needed in the run up to the international meeting”, while the monarch’s office said he had offered “strong support” for the event.

Before arriving in London, Rice said she had been “encouraged” by talks during her tour of the Middle East despite “tensions” between Israelis and Palestinians.

Rice met Arab, Israeli and Palestinian leaders on her trip, which came on the back of a visit to Moscow.