America

VP Cheney wraps up weeklong Mideast tour

(AP)
Updated: 2007-05-14 20:59

AQABA, Jordan - Vice President Dick Cheney, wrapping up a weeklong tour of the Middle East Monday, said the United States doesn't have the luxury of focusing on one crisis at the expense of another.

Asked in an interview with Fox News about the competing issues of Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Cheney said, "I think we have to address all of the problems and we don't have the luxury of ignoring any of them." The vice president wrapped up his tour by meeting privately with Jordan's King Abdullah II at the king's vacation compound overlooking the Gulf of Aqaba.

According to a statement issued by the royal palace after Cheney left, Abdullah, a moderate Arab leader and key US ally, warned that time was running out to use an Arab peace plan to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Abdullah also called for a diplomatic solution to Iran's nuclear standoff with the West, the statement said.

"Jordan stands in support of a peaceful resolution to the issue of Iran's nuclear capabilities that would spare the region further tensions," Abdullah told Cheney in their closed-door meeting.

"Time is not on anyone's side," Abdullah warned. He did not elaborate, but he has previously said that the absence of peacemaking is increasing the popularity of extremists across the Muslim world.

Cheney visited Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in a bid to get moderate Arab states to do more to support the fragile government of Iraq and to promote reconciliation among rival factions.

He also sounded out the governments on increasing Iranian influence in the region and took a hardline stance against Iran's nuclear ambitions and efforts to dominate the Gulf region.

The vice president's tour appeared to have mixed results, and on some stops he found an eagerness to talk as much about the Israeli-Palestinian peace process as the situation in Iraq.

Cheney spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said that Cheney had not talked with President Bush during his tour, but would give the president a complete fill upon his return. Cheney was flying home to Washington Monday.

In one development during the tour, the Bush administration signaled its willingness to talk to Iran, if the discussions deal only with Iraq. The White House accuses Tehran of undermining the Baghdad government and exporting deadly roadside bombs.

"We are willing to have that conversation limited to Iraq issues at the ambassador level," McBride said after the vice president met Sunday in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The readiness to talk with the Iranians about security issues in Iraq is consistent with US policy and does not reflect a new position, the spokeswoman said.