Cheney to discuss peace, oil on Mideast trip

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney leaves on Sunday for the Middle East where he will raise U.S. concerns about record-high oil prices and try to push Israeli-Palestinian peace talks forward, the White House said.

Cheney will visit Saudi Arabia, Israel, the West Bank, Turkey and Oman in a trip expected to last about a week or more, his office said on Monday.

“His goal is to reassure people that the United States is committed to a vision of peace in the Middle East,” President George W. Bush said after meeting with Poland’s prime minister at the White House.

Cheney will also take the message “that we fully see the threats facing the Middle East, one such threat is Iran, and that we will continue to bolster our security agreements and relationships with our friends and allies,” Bush said.

Cheney’s visit to Israel and the West Bank follows one by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region last week, when she urged leaders to move forward with peace talks that were dealt a blow by violence in Gaza and Israel.

Rice was set to meet Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Washington later on Monday as part of increased U.S. diplomatic efforts since Palestinian statehood talks were launched in Annapolis, Maryland, last November.

Bush, who visited Israel this year for the first time as president, has said he is optimistic a peace deal can be reached before he leaves office in January 2009.

“I’m optimistic that we will be able to achieve a vision that shows a way forward and I’m optimistic leaders will step forward and do the hard things necessary so people don’t have to live in deprivation and fear,” Bush said.

Israel said on Sunday that up to 750 new homes in a Jewish settlement in the occupied West Bank were planned -- a move likely to complicate the U.S.-brokered peace talks.

Cheney will press Israeli and Palestinian leaders to uphold their obligations, which include Israel’s freezing of settlement expansion and Palestinian efforts to rein in militants.

“We expect both parties involved in the Middle Eastern peace process to adhere to their obligations in the roadmap and those obligations are clear,” Bush said.

The Israeli announcement on settlements was made after a Palestinian gunman killed eight students at a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem.

Prior to that attack, Palestinian leaders had suspended peace negotiations after an Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip killed more than 120 Palestinians.

During Rice’s trip, both sides promised to resume talks soon.

PRICE OF OIL

Cheney also will meet with Saudi King Abdullah when oil prices are hitting record highs, reaching above $106 a barrel last week.

He was expected to reinforce the message from Bush, who had urged OPEC to increase production during his visit to Saudi Arabia in January. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries decided not to boost output.

“Obviously we want to see an increase in production,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. “Our message remains the same.”

Regional tensions likely would be discussed in Turkey, which recently staged a military offensive against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

Cheney was also expected to keep up pressure on Iran after Bush sought during his visit to convince allies in the Middle East to curb Iran’s influence in the region.

“When the president traveled there in January at every stop Iran was of interest and concern. And so I don’t expect that that changed in the last two months since Iran hasn’t changed its behavior at all,” Perino said.

The United States has led efforts to pressure Iran, and the U.N. Security Council voted last week for a third sanctions resolution against Tehran over its refusal to halt its nuclear program.

The West suspects the nuclear program is aimed at making weapons, while Tehran says it is to generate electricity.