Cheney makes surprise Iraq trip

BAGHDAD – US Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Baghdad yesterday to tell top Iraqi leaders to redouble efforts to promote national reconciliation and warn them US patience is running short.

Cheney met with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and had lunch with Iraqi ministers. The vice president was to hammer home Washington’s powerful objections to Iraqi lawmakers’ planned two-month summer recess, US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker told reporters travelling aboard Cheney’s plane.”That’s clearly part of the message.It’s been part of the message now for some time.I’ve said it, (US) Secretary (of State Condoleezza) Rice has said it.I’m confident the vice president is going to say it,” Crocker said.”The reality is, with the major effort we’re making, (the) major effort the Iraqi security forces and military are making, themselves, for the Iraqi parliament to take a two-month vacation in summer is impossible to understand.”Iraqi lawmakers have told AFP that they have not yet decided whether to take August and September off as planned, but that they are open to the idea of not taking it if there is important legislation to debate.Moderates warn, however, that US pressure on them to cancel the recess could backfire if hardline members of the parliament decide to defy Washington.Radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for Iraqis to protest against Cheney’s visit yesterday, in a statement released by his office in Najaf.With Cheney gearing up for a day’s worth of talks with top US and Iraqi officials, a senior aide summarised his message bluntly: “Everybody’s got to sit down, raise their game, redouble their efforts.”Cheney, whose trip here was shrouded in secrecy, was also to meet members of Iraq’s three-member presidency council, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity.With US President George W.Bush’s Democratic foes battling the White House in an effort to end US involvement in Iraq, Cheney was to leave no doubt that Washington’s patience is at an ebb.”It’s game time, let’s go,” the Cheney aide said, urging Iraqis to “achieve some kind of national compact that marginalises the extremes,” both majority Shiite and minority Sunni, who have been locked in deadly sectarian violence.US officials have increasingly expressed exasperation over the slow pace of key legislation, including efforts to regulate oil revenues and allow members of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein’s Baath party to hold government jobs.Cheney’s schedule called for a security update from Crocker and the commander of US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, followed by talks with Maliki – including perhaps a one-on-one meeting.Nampa-AFPThe vice president was to hammer home Washington’s powerful objections to Iraqi lawmakers’ planned two-month summer recess, US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker told reporters travelling aboard Cheney’s plane.”That’s clearly part of the message.It’s been part of the message now for some time.I’ve said it, (US) Secretary (of State Condoleezza) Rice has said it.I’m confident the vice president is going to say it,” Crocker said.”The reality is, with the major effort we’re making, (the) major effort the Iraqi security forces and military are making, themselves, for the Iraqi parliament to take a two-month vacation in summer is impossible to understand.”Iraqi lawmakers have told AFP that they have not yet decided whether to take August and September off as planned, but that they are open to the idea of not taking it if there is important legislation to debate.Moderates warn, however, that US pressure on them to cancel the recess could backfire if hardline members of the parliament decide to defy Washington.Radical Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for Iraqis to protest against Cheney’s visit yesterday, in a statement released by his office in Najaf.With Cheney gearing up for a day’s worth of talks with top US and Iraqi officials, a senior aide summarised his message bluntly: “Everybody’s got to sit down, raise their game, redouble their efforts.”Cheney, whose trip here was shrouded in secrecy, was also to meet members of Iraq’s three-member presidency council, the aide said, speaking on condition of anonymity.With US President George W.Bush’s Democratic foes battling the White House in an effort to end US involvement in Iraq, Cheney was to leave no doubt that Washington’s patience is at an ebb.”It’s game time, let’s go,” the Cheney aide said, urging Iraqis to “achieve some kind of national compact that marginalises the extremes,” both majority Shiite and minority Sunni, who have been locked in deadly sectarian violence.US officials have increasingly expressed exasperation over the slow pace of key legislation, including efforts to regulate oil revenues and allow members of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein’s Baath party to hold government jobs.Cheney’s schedule called for a security update from Crocker and the commander of US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus, followed by talks with Maliki – including perhaps a one-on-one meeting.Nampa-AFP