Tuesday, 12 March, 2002
Cheney Kicks-off Mideast Tour With Talks In Amman
VOA
News 12
Mar 2002

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney meets with Jordan's King
Abdullah Tuesday at the start of his 10-day tour of the Middle
East.
Their talks in Amman
are expected to focus on the U.S.-led war against terrorism and escalating
Israeli-Palestinian violence. King Abdullah supports the campaign against
terror, but does not want to see it expanded to Iraq.
On Monday, Mr. Cheney
held talks in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on the threat posed
by Iraq. Both leaders refused to speculate on military action against Baghdad,
which is accused of trying to acquire or develop weapons of mass
destruction.
Both leaders say
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has breached U.N. Security Council resolutions.
They demanded that he allow U.N. inspectors back into the country to search for
banned weapons.
In Baghdad, Iraqi
Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan urged Arab leaders who meet with Mr. Cheney
to resist what he called U.S. threats.
Mr. Cheney's tour of
the Middle East includes visits to Israel, Turkey and eight Arab countries in
addition to Jordan.
Mr. Cheney says he
will use the mission for talks, not to announce decisions. He says he will
discuss current actions of the coalition against terrorism, the threat of
weapons of mass destruction, and, in his words, "the important choices that
await us in the days ahead."
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