Engine Fire Delays First Lady’s Africa Trip by 2 Hours

WASHINGTON —  First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton and daughter Chelsea’s 12-day trip to North Africa got off to a rocky start Saturday. Problems included an aborted takeoff after an engine caught fire.

The planned departure from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland initially was delayed an hour because the Air Force Boeing 707 jetliner carrying the president’s wife and daughter, staff aides and journalists was found to be overweight with cargo and luggage.

Then, as the plane raced down the runway for takeoff, flames shot out of the left-wing engine. The jetliner skidded to a stop and taxied back to the terminal, where a dozen Air Force personnel scrambled to repair what a crew member described as a minor engine compressor problem.

The plane took off about two hours after its originally scheduled departure time.

Before her departure, Clinton said she intended her travels through Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia to dispel distrust that has strained U.S. relations with some Arab states since the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

“For too long, our close ties with the Arab world have been compromised by negative stereotyping on both sides,” she said. “It is my hope that this trip will help strengthen the bonds of friendship among our nations.”

Wallace Sanders, development director for the National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations, said he is counting on Clinton to “disseminate the truth.”

Aides and administration officials were careful to underscore that Clinton’s meetings with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and Morocco’s King Hassan II will be courtesy calls, “not to negotiate Middle East peace.”