About 20 percent of Blackburn's population is Muslim, and Rice had been invited to visit the mosque.

That invitation was withdrawn, however, amid reports that widespread protests about U.S. policy towards Muslims and the war in Iraq were planned. Rice is still scheduled to meet Saturday with Muslim leaders in Blackburn and the town's mayor, Ugandan immigrant Yusuf Jan-Virmani.

Later on Friday, Rice and Straw visited a high school in Blackburn where about 150 protesters chanted anti-war slogans and waved banners.

At a visit to a Blackburn school, the protesters held anti-Iraqi war signs and shouted, "Condoleezza Rice, go home," and "Hey, hey Condi Rice, how many kids did you kill today?"

Jaabbar Khan, a 16-year-old student, said about 50 of his classmates skipped classes to join the demonstration.

Protesters were also in front of Rice's hotel on her arrival Thursday night.

"The majority of the Muslim community are opposed to the war and her visit," said Salim Amed, 38, a call center worker from Blackburn, the UK's Press Association reported.

Rice then traveled to Ewood Park, home of the Blackburn Rovers soccer club, where she was presented with a Rovers shirt with the name "Rice" on the back.

Earlier in the day, Rice was accompanied by Straw to a British aerospace factory near Preston.

Asked by reporters for her reaction to the demonstrations planned for her visit, Rice said she had seen opposition to Iraq war in cities she had visited in the United States. "So, I'm not surprised. People have strong views.

"People always have a right to protest. That is what democracy is all about." She added that people with differing views "should not keep them bottled up."

Rice also expressed sympathy for the victims of the Bahrain boat tragedy and the earthquake in Iran. (Full story)

The United States has been in contact with the Bahrain government and "is lending whatever assistance we can," the Secretary of State said.

Straw said the UK had sent a rapid deployment unit to the region.

Meanwhile, Rice defended the Bush administration's policies in Iraq, arguing that despite the ongoing sectarian violence, the "early contours of a democratic culture" were taking hold.

In remarks at Chatham House, a center for independent research on global issues, Rice defended the Bush administration's policies in Iraq, arguing that despite the ongoing sectarian violence, the "early contours of a democratic culture" were taking hold.

"The old status quo was unstable. Any sense of stability was a false sense of stability," she said in a speech at Chatham House -- a center for independent research on global -- referring to what she said was the bloody rule of Saddam Hussein.

Straw also spoke, describing the need for global unity. Although foreign policy is still about national interests, "we also recognize we must advance those interests by developing a community of nations in which people can share in common values."

"An international society which works is the best guarantee of our own security and prosperity," Straw said.

Rice will see the sights of Blackburn and Liverpool during the two-day visit, hosted by the Straw to repay a visit he made to her hometown last year.

Rice arrived Thursday at Liverpool's John Lennon Airport for a two-day stay.

She came to England from Berlin, where she met with ministers representing the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, for talks on the next steps to tighten the diplomatic noose around Iran following Wednesday's passage by the Security Council of a presidential statement. (Full story)

She also made a brief stop in Paris to meet with French President Jacques Chirac.

Her visit to Liverpool and Blackburn has been billed as an opportunity for Rice and Straw to demonstrate how U.S. foreign policy directly affects British citizens.

It follows a visit by Straw to Rice's home state of Alabama in October, where she gave him a high-profile taste of life in the Deep South.

The trip is full of photo opportunities meant to highlight the historic links between the United States and Britain. In Liverpool, Rice will attend a concert and visit a maritime museum steeped in the history of trade and travel between the two countries.

A Beatles fan, Rice also will have an opportunity to indulge in her passion for the band in its home city. (Full story)

Straw's Blackburn and the southern United States where Rice grew up share historic ties to the cotton industry.

During the industrial revolution, American cotton grown in the Deep South was imported through Liverpool to Blackburn, where it was woven into cloth.

Rice toured a high school math class and visited Ewood Park, the home stadium of Straw's favored soccer team, Blackburn Rovers.

About 50 of Pleckgate School's students ''skived off'' their classes Friday to protest Rice's visit, said student Jabbar Khan, 16, who shook Rice's hand as she entered.

The protests awaiting Rice on Friday were the reverse of the warm reception she received last fall when Straw accompanied her on a down-home tour of her native Alabama. Then, elderly white women lined up to shake the hand of a black native daughter made good, football fans cheered and the tantalizing possibility of a run for president - something she discounts - surrounded Rice.

"It's one thing to say this is a cultural visit, but others see it as a council of war,'' said Carmel Brown, an anti-war protester in Liverpool.

Rice's planned visit to a mosque in Blackburn was canceled Thursday after anti-war protesters planned to heckle her during prayer time, a mosque leader said. A prominent poet and actress pulled out of planned appearances at a Liverpool Philharmonic concert Rice was attending Friday in protest of U.S. policies.

Straw's Blackburn district has the country's third highest Muslim population. Rice also is to meet Muslim leaders and the town's mayor, Ugandan immigrant Yusuf Jan-Virmani, on Saturday.

Straw's visit to Alabama was intended to show a different side of America to a visiting foreign leader and friend. Many people he met in Alabama, and a few who introduced him at events, had never heard of the British diplomat.

Rice is far better known, as the two days of protests planned over U.S. policies in Iraq, Iran and the war on terrorism attest.

Rice and Straw planned speeches on Iran on Friday. The United States and Britain were among the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council that moved this week to demand answers from Tehran over its disputed nuclear program.

Opponents of the Iraq war set up a Web site, condiwatch.co.uk, that listed times and locations for marches and gatherings. Protesters planned to distribute T-shirts that read, ''Fab Four, Not War,'' in reference to Liverpool's most famous export, The Beatles.

Rice had planned to attend Friday prayers at Masjide Al Hidayah mosque, but anti-war protesters presented a security threat, said Ibrahim Master, a mosque official.

''It wasn't canceled because we don't like Condoleezza Rice,'' said Master.

Local Muslims and anti-war activists told Rice to "Go Home" when British counterpart Jack Straw earlier led her on a tour of his home town of Blackburn in the industrial northwest, an area which rarely plays host to overseas politicians.

"Yes, I know we have made tactical errors, thousands of them," she said in answer to a question over whether lessons had been learned since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

"I believe strongly that it was the right strategic decision, that Saddam had been a threat to the international community long enough," she added.

Earlier, about 250 protesters gathered outside a school which Rice visited, waving placards urging her to go home and shouting as her motorcade arrived.

Many of them were locals from Straw's constituency of Blackburn, a former cotton town with a 20 percent Muslim population. Straw invited Rice to the area after he toured her home state of Alabama last year.

Protesters had already persuaded a mosque in the town to withdraw its invitation to her.

"The Muslim population is very angry. She's not welcome in Blackburn," said Suliman, one of the demonstrators outside Pleckgate school, where Rice met young pupils.

"How many lives per gallon?" asked one of the placards held aloft, in reference to the U.S. invasion of oil-rich Iraq which many Britons opposed.

During a visit to a Student Council meeting at the school, Rice was asked whether she was upset by the demonstrators.

"Oh, it's OK, people have a right to protest and a right to make their views known," Rice told the teenage student.

"Each individual all over the world has the God-given right to express themselves. I'm not just going to visit places where people agree with me. That would be really unfortunate."

SYMPATHY FOR EARTHQUAKE VICTIMS

Rice delivered her speech alongside Straw in the somewhat incongruous setting of Blackburn Rovers' soccer stadium, where she was given a Number 10 jersey from one of England's teams.

She arrived in Britain late on Thursday from Paris and, before that, Berlin, where she discussed the next steps in dealing with Iran's nuclear program with officials from Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China.

Rice said she supported Straw's view that sanctions should be considered against Iran if it does not comply with calls to abandon its nuclear ambitions.

"Iran is going to have to make a choice... accept a way to the development of civil nuclear power... or face deeper isolation," said Rice.

While Rice and Straw both had tough words to say about Iran, they expressed sympathy for the victims of an earthquake which killed at least 66 people in the west of the country.

"(It's) very shocking, with what seems to be a large loss of life," Straw said during a visit to a Britain Aerospace factory where the United States and Britain are involved in a joint project for fighter aircraft.

Rice's trip is expected to be heavy on photo opportunities and light on discussion, as was Straw's trip to the American south in October.

It will give Rice a chance to indulge her passion for The Beatles. She was due later to travel to Liverpool where she will attend a concert and visit a performing arts center founded by former Beatle Paul McCartney.

Rice "pointedly did not rule out supporting Kadima's plan for withdrawing from parts of the occupied West Bank by 2010 but consolidating other Jewish settlements there," the BBC said. "I would not on the face of it say ... that we do not think there is any value in what the Israelis are talking about," she said, according to the Web site.

"But we can't support it because we don't know. We haven't had a chance to talk to them about what they have in mind," she said.

The BBC quoted Rice as saying the Hamas-dominated Palestinian government "does not accept the concept of a negotiated solution" with Israel, having won seats in the Parliament based on a platform of resistance to Israel and opposing negotiated settlements.