Rumsfeld plane leaves Shannon
The US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has taken off from Shannon Airport after his plane stopped to refuel there on the way to the Gulf.
Speaking in Shannon, Mr Rumsfeld said that long and difficult work lays ahead in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
On his tour of the Gulf, he is set to meet Afghanistan's President in Kabul. Discussions will centre around an end to military operations in the country.
