U.S. Discusses Arab Iraq Deployment

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met in Cairo Tuesday to discuss possible deployment of Arab troops in Iraq, sources said.

With the Bush administration facing increasing pressure from members of Congress and the public to reduce U.S. forces in Iraq, Arab diplomatic sources in the Egyptian capital say Cheney’s talks with Mubarak focused on the participation of Muslim and Arab forces in the rebuilding of Iraq.

The sources say placing an Arab force in Iraq would be a clear indication to Iraq’s neighbors that the United States has no intention of occupying Iraq in the long term.

Mubarak reportedly pressed for greater Sunni Muslim participation in the new Iraqi government expected to be announced next week, which is dominated by Shiite Muslims.

Cheney and Mubarak also discussed Lebanon and tensions in Syria, where the government has refused to allow international investigators to question the president in the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

Cheney also has stops planned in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on his current Mideast trip.