FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III will be in Honolulu Thursday, the first visit by an FBI director to the state in the last six years.

He will meet with local law enforcement and military officials to discuss a range of topics, including growing cooperation between U.S. agencies and counterparts in Asia.

Mueller will hold a brief public appearance at the federal building at 5 p.m. Thursday.

The special agent in charge of the FBI's Honolulu division, Janet L. Kamerman, was a special assistant to Mueller in Washington, D.C., until she took the job in Honolulu in February 2007.

In that assignment, Kamerman provided counsel to the director on policy and administrative matters, according to the FBI.

Mueller's stop in Honolulu comes after a trip to FBI offices in China and the Pacific region.

Mueller's last stop before Hawai'i will be Beijing, where he will meet with FBI agents and Chinese officials from the Ministry of Public Security to discuss espionage, organized crime, anti-terrorism and security for the Olympics.

Mueller arrived in Beijing yesterday.

The FBI in 2002 set up a branch office in Beijing that is run out of the U.S. Embassy.

Mueller was nominated by President Bush and became the sixth director of the FBI on Sept. 4, 2001.

Reach Peter Boylan at pboylan@honoluluadvertiser.com.