Washington, July 4, SPA -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on Tuesday offered to Egypt the help of the United States in trying to gain the release of Ihab al-Sharif, Egypt's top diplomat in Iraq who was kidnapped on Sunday. Rice called Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit to offer "any help that we might make available to the Egyptian government," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters yesterday in Washington. "And we called for the diplomat's early and speedy release, unharmed," McCormack added. --SPA1152 Local Time 0852 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/274962