President Bush says he will not allow Iraq to threaten the world's future by developing weapons of mass destruction. 

During his wide-ranging news conference in Washington Wednesday, Mr. Bush said he is deeply concerned about Iraq and in his words "so should people who love freedom." He described Iraqi President Saddam Hussein as a man who "obviously has something to hide," and Mr. Bush said the United States and its allies "will deal with him." There has been growing speculation that Iraq could be the next target in the U.S.-led war on terrorism. U.S. officials have warned Iraq will face serious consequences if it does not allow U.N. inspectors back into the country to search for banned weapons of mass destruction. 

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is currently in the Mideast to discuss Iraq and other regional matters. 

Mr. Cheney was in Egypt Wednesday, where President Hosni Mubarak said he will press Baghdad to allow the return of U.N. weapons inspectors. 

Speaking to U.S. troops in Egypt, Mr. Cheney said the next objective in the war on terrorism is to prevent terrorists, and regimes that sponsor terror, from threatening America or its friends and allies with weapons of mass destruction. 

Mr. Cheney goes to Yemen later Thursday. U.S. military officers are already on the ground there to help government troops go after local al-Qaida terrorists. Analysts fear Yemen could become a country where al-Qaida cells could regroup after being routed from many of their bases in Afghanistan. 

(stearns c-r, reuters, prev) ## 

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters. 

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