US secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Tuesday pushed for Arab leaders to embrace a "spirit of reform" that has swept the region and move swiftly to respond to the growing demands of their citizens.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said only a political solution will end the war in Afghanistan and voiced hope that rank-and-file Taliban could be split off from Al Qaeda extremists.

There is a growing bipartisan consensus that Hillary Clinton is the best ever secretary of state, US President Barack Obama has said.