Cheney in Iraq in push for political progress
US vice president Dick Cheney opened a new push for political unity in Iraq on an unannounced visit today, just ahead of the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion.
Mr Cheney landed at Baghdad International Airport, then flew by helicopter into the heavily secured Green Zone for talks with Iraqi leaders and US military and diplomatic officials.
It was his third vice presidential trip to Iraq where 160,000 American troops are deployed and the US death toll is nearing 4,000.
For security reasons, Mr Cheney’s officials divulged few details about the vice president’s schedule, but said he was expected to make stops throughout the country, speak to troops and spend time with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, US Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus, the top US military commander in Iraq.
Mr Crocker and Gen Petraeus are scheduled to travel to Washington next month to give a status report on the war.
Oman was scheduled to be the first stop on Mr Cheney’s 10-day trip to the Mideast, but he left Air Force Two parked on a tarmac in England and boarded a C-17 for the flight to the Iraqi capital.
The future of Iraq will be discussed in his closed-door talks with leaders in Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Palestinian territory and Turkey.
But Mr Cheney’s discussions at each stop also will touch on Iran’s nuclear programme and its desire for greater influence in the region, high oil prices and the pursuit of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal that President George Bush wants to see before he leaves office.
