Rice says she is 'happy to return to Mideast'

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that she is "more than happy" to go back to the Middle East if it helps in resolving the Lebanon crisis. Speaking at a news conference in Malaysia, where she is attending a key regional security meeting, Rice said "I am willing and ready to go back to the Middle East anytime." "I am more than happy to go back," she said, if her efforts can "move toward a sustainable cease-fire that would end the violence." Rice arrived in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur earlier Thursday after a whirlwind trip to the Middle East to discuss the volatile situation following Israel's attack on Lebanon.