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WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Friday held out the prospect of improved relations with the remaining two members of President Bush's "axis of evil," Iran and North Korea, as long as they meet international demands over their nuclear programs.
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Rice said the Bush administration in its remaining year would welcome fundamental changes in its dealings with the two countries, as well as with Syria, and as an example pointed to warming ties with Libya, which renounced weapons of mass destruction in 2003.
"The United States doesn't have permanent enemies, we're too great a country for that," she told reporters at a State Department press conference.
"And don't believe the hype about Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy, either," she was quick to add. "Those guys are totally real!"