WASHINGTON - US SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton left on Sunday for Europe and Asia largely to consult with US partners on curbing North Korea's and Iran's nuclear ambitions as well as on stabilising Afghanistan.

A plane carrying Mrs Clinton and her aides took off from Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington at about 00.15am (0515 GMT, 1.15pm Singapore time).

The chief US diplomat was to give a speech in Berlin on Sunday before joining German Chancelor Angela Merkel and other world leaders in celebrations on Monday for the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

In a preview of her visit, Mrs Clinton told a Washington audience on Friday that the wall's fall marked the end of a Cold War era in which the world was divided into clear blocs.

'So we find ourselves now in a much more complex world, and we just have to be up for it and we have to be smarter about it,' Mrs Clinton said.

'And we have to demand more from ourselves and our partners.' President Barack Obama's adminstration, despite the adulation he enjoys in western Europe after the departure of his predecessor George W. Bush, is struggling to obtain more support from European partners in Afghanistan. -- AFP