BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFP) — US Vice President Dick Cheney met American soldiers serving in Iraq on Tuesday after urging Arab states to open full diplomatic ties with Baghdad to counter Iran's growing influence.
Cheney held a series of meetings with US and Iraqi leaders on Monday after he flew in on a surprise visit to discuss recent security gains as the country marks the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion launched on March 20, 2003.
On Tuesday, Iraq is holding a national reconciliation conference to unite its various warring factions, an initiative aimed at ending the sectarian strife and also help Washington hasten the withdrawal of its troops.
Cheney, one of the key architects of the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein's regime, spent the night at the Balad air base, north of Baghdad.
His visit has been marked by a series of bomb attacks. The deadliest was in the central city of Karbala where a bombing near the Shiite shrine of Imam Hussein killed at least 52 people and wounded 75.
The Balad air base also reverberated overnight with US military shelling of suspected insurgent hideouts.
Asked whether he had heard the distant thunder of US mortars and artillery, Cheney replied: "I did, I was up early," and asked whether he had been told it was American as opposed to enemy fire, Cheney quipped: "No, not at the time. Nobody came running in to wake me up."
On Monday, Cheney strongly urged Arab states like regional powerhouse and close US ally Saudi Arabia to open full diplomatic ties with Iraq if they want to counter Iranian influence.
"Our Arab friends would do well to send ambassadors to Iraq," Cheney told a news conference in Baghdad.
"If Arab states (are) concerned about Iranian influence in Iraq, one of the ways for them to counter that is to make a commitment to have a presence here as well."
US officials have expressed frustration that regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt have not yet formally appointed ambassadors to Baghdad.
Cheney was to push Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah on the issue later this week as he visits other countries in the Middle East after Iraq.
A visit to Baghdad by Iran's hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad two weeks ago was seen as a sign of Tehran's rising sway over Iraq's Shiite-led government at a time when Iraq is fighting to curb Shiite-Sunni sectarian strife that has killed tens of thousands of people.
Cheney criss-crossed the strife-torn capital to assure Iraqi leaders in their homes or offices of "unwavering" US support as they "consolidate and strengthen their democracy".
But much of Cheney's visit focused on securing fragile security gains and completing the unfinished business of encouraging Iraqis to pass legislation seen as key to defusing sectarian violence and fostering national reconciliation.
Cheney said he saw "phenomenal" and "dramatic" security improvements since his last visit, in May 2007, mid-way through a surge in US troop numbers that saw an additional 30,000 personnel deployed to Iraq.
"I'm pleased to be able to return next week to Washington and report to the president that we are making significant progress in Iraq," said Cheney, who called the surge "a real success story".
"If you look back on those five years it has been a difficult, challenging but nonetheless successful endeavour," said Cheney. "It has been well worth the effort."
Cheney held talks with the top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and US ambassador Ryan Crocker, who are due to make a progress report to the US Congress on April 8-9 that is expected to shape debate on the drawdown of the 158,000 or so US troops.
Cheney's visit to Iraq was the first stop on a nine-day Middle East tour which will also take him to Oman, Israel, the West Bank, and Turkey, apart from Saudi Arabia.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
