Cheney presses Iraqi Kurds on reconciliation

Wrapping up a surprise two-day trip to Iraq, Cheney met Kurdistan regional president Massoud Barzani, who pledged Kurds would be part of the "solution, not the problem" in the troubled nations relations with its neighbours.

Earlier, Cheney had told American troops stationed at a sprawling air base north of Baghdad that the United States will fight on in Iraq as the war approaches its fifth anniversary, after warning against large troop cuts.

His visit has been focused on fostering efforts to bring about national reconciliation and defuse the insurgency and sectarian violence that continues to plague Iraq despite a US troop surge. "We are certainly counting on President Barzani's leadership to help us conclude a new strategic relationship between the United States and Iraq as well as advance crucial peaces of national legislation in the months ahead," Cheney said before heading off on the next leg of his tour to Oman.

Their talks had also been expected to focus on Turkish operations against the outlawed PKK separatists holed up in northern Iraq after an major air and ground offensive by Turkey. "We will continue to play our positive role, to be part of the solution, and not part of the problem," Barzani said through an interpreter. "We will be part of the solution for all the efforts inside of Iraq and out for the neighbouring countries," Barzani added.

Last months Turkish incursion was branded by Iraqi Kurds and the Baghdad government as an attack on the nations sovereignty but much of the international community considers the PKK a terrorist group and Washington is believed to back Turkeys strikes.

SPECIAL FRIENDSHIP

Cheney said the United States and Iraq's Kurds had built up a "special friendship" during an operation that created no-fly zones over Kurdish areas after the 1991 Gulf war to protect them from ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's brutal campaigns of repression and gas attacks. "It is important to lay the foundation of the kind of relationship that will bind our people together for the future as we build on the experience and shared sacrifices" of the past, he said.

At the Balad air base north of Baghdad, Cheney -- one of the key architects of the war unleashed on March 20, 2003 -- vowed to stay the curse in Iraq, with the conflict likely to shape the November US elections. "They (Iraqis) know were a nation that accepts a hard job and keeps at it even if others may tire of the effort," he told the troops. A Cheney aide said he was referring to opposition to the vastly unpopular war at home, not to US allies like Australia who took part in the 2003 invasion but have since withdrawn forces.

Cheney's visit has been marked by a series of attacks, including a bombing near a Shiite shrine in the city of Karbala that killed 52 people. The Balad base, where Cheney slept, also reverberated overnight from the thunder of US mortars and artillery being fired into insurgent areas just a few miles (kilometres) away.

Cheney took aim at US opposition to the war, amid renewed calls by Democrats to withdraw the roughly 158,000 US soldiers in Iraq. "Understanding all the dangers of this new era, we have no intention of abandoning our friends, or allowing this country of 170,000 square miles to become a staging area for further attacks against Americans," he said.

"Tyranny in Iraq was worth defeating. Democracy in Iraq is worth defending. and all Americans can be certain: We intend to complete the mission, so that another generation of Americans doesn't have to come back here and do it again."

On Monday, Cheney urged Arab states to open full diplomatic ties with Iraq if they want to counter the influence of US archfoe Iran, which US commanders accuse of fomenting the violence. US officials have expressed frustration that regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Egypt have not yet formally appointed ambassadors to Baghdad and Cheney was to push Saudi King Abdullah on the issue later this week.

On Monday, Cheney criss-crossed the strife-torn capital to assure Iraqi leaders of "unwavering" US support and said Iraqis "know above all, that America can be trusted." Cheney said he saw "phenomenal" and "dramatic" security improvements since his last visit in May 2007, mid-way through a "surge" that saw an additional 30,000 personnel deployed to Iraq.