By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
US Vice President Dick Cheney began a Mideast visit Monday, a tour in which he will confer with the United States' top allies in the region, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, on the political process in Iraq and on the West's standoffs with Syria and Iran.
Cheney, who arrived Monday afternoon in the Egyptian capital, meets the following day with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak before heading to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah.
Arab diplomats said the situation in Iraq following the Dec. 15 elections, the crisis with Syria over the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri and a looming standoff over the Iranian nuclear program are high on Cheney's talks.