CAIRO: American Vice President Dick Cheney made a brief visit to Egypt Sunday as part of his Middle East tour to persuade major Sunni countries in the region to help bring Iraqi Sunnis to the negotiating table. Having already visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, Cheney met with President Mubarak and Defense Minister Mohammed Tantawi to sound them out on influencing Iraq's Sunnis to partake in some sort of peace process as well as curb Iran's growing influence in the country. Additionally, Cheney's visit is seen as a public relations exercise to smooth relations with America's traditional allies in the region. Cheney's spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride said of the meeting with Saudi Arabia that it "served to reaffirm and strengthen old friendships. Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies' Diaa Rashwan previously told The Daily Star Egypt that Cheney's visit was to balance out recent American meetings with Syria and Iran. "This visit doesn't reflect external US policies but internal ones. [House Senate Leader Nancy] Pelosi has recently visited Syria and the Democrats are taking a different approach to the region. Cheney's visit to key US allies is an attempt to balance that, Rashwan said. Additionally, "There are different wings in the administration, and this visit could be to balance out the State Department's recent meetings with Syria and Iran, he said. In an interview with Fox News Thursday before he set out on his visit, Cheney dismissed the idea that the Sunni countries are backing a Sunni insurgency against an Iran-backed Shia ruling class. "I don t think it s a proxy war at this stage. That s not the way I perceive it, he said, "I don t think that s the case yet. Cheney was last in the region in November for a meeting with Saudi King Abdullah to discuss matters in Iraq and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. "Cheney is the one under attack in the US about Iraq, more so than President Bush, Rashwan said. Discussions with Mubarak also touched on Iran and its role in Iraq. This comes at a time when Iran has indicated a willingness to discuss Iraq's security with the US. Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said, "Iran has agreed to talk to the US side over Iraq, in Iraq, in order to relieve the pain of the Iraqi people, to support the government and to reinforce security in Iraq. This statement came after the muted talks between American and Iranian officials at the International Compact for Iraq held in Sharm El Sheikh May 3, which were significantly downplayed by both sides.
