Cheney Visits Saudis Amid Iraq Upheaval

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney delivers his speech during his trip to the Yongsang U.S. Army base in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, April 16, 2004. Iraqi state television reported Thursday Nov. 23, 2006 that Vice President Dick Cheney was in Baghdad. Private Al-Arabiya TV broadcast a similar report. The American Embassy said that it could not confirm the visit, but that Cheney could be in the country to visit troops for the Thanksgiving holiday. (AP Photo/Yun Jai-hyoung) (Yun Jai-hyoung - AP)

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Vice President Dick Cheney arrived Saturday in Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah, apparently seeking the Sunni royal family's influence and tribal connections to calm Iraq after an especially violent week.

The vice president's one-day visit to the kingdom comes at a time of upheaval across the region, with a potentially explosive crisis in Lebanon, a logjam in the Arab-Israeli peace process and the nuclear standoff with Iran.

Iraq has been thrown into a turmoil ahead of talks scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday between President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

A string of car bombings by Sunni insurgents killed 215 people in a Shiite district of Baghdad, prompted revenge attacks and threatened to unleash an outright civil war. After Thursday's bloodshed, a top Shiite political party that al-Maliki depends on for power threatened to withdraw from the government if he meets Bush. The White House said the meeting was still on.

The unusual series of visits to the region by the president and vice president underlined Washington's determination to rally its allies at a time when it is considering overhauling its Iraq policy.

Iran, the United States' top rival in the Middle East, had planned its own summit Saturday, inviting the presidents of Iraq and Syria in what was seen as a bid to assert its role as a powerbroker in the Iraqi conflict.

But Syria never responded to the invitation _ perhaps afraid of annoying the United States. Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was unable to go to Iran on Saturday because Baghdad's airport was ordered closed after the burst of violence and he said he would be unable to visit Iran before Sunday at the earliest.

Cheney arrived in Saudi Arabia in the afternoon and was expected to meet King Abdullah later in the day, the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh said. No other stops were planned, his office said.

A Saudi official said Cheney and Abdullah would discuss "the deteriorating situation in Iraq" as well as the situation in Lebanon, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and the standoff with Iran. Cheney will also meet the Saudi Crown Prince Sultan, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Gulf countries worry about Iran's nuclear program and its attempts to expand its influence in the Middle East, but they also fear the repecussions from the West's attempts to force Iran to back down.

The United States also accuses Iran _ along with its ally Syria _ of trying to overthrow Lebanon's U.S.-backed government. The power struggle in Lebanon has reached a dangerous precipice after Tuesday's assassination of an anti-Syrian politician, and many fear the political crisis there could turn violent, splitting the country.

Saudi Arabia has strong links to the anti-Syrian bloc that dominates Lebanon's government as well as influence with the Palestinian militant group Hamas.