Cheney arrives in Oman after Yemen visit

MUSCAT, Oman (CNN) -- U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney arrived Thursday in Oman for talks with Sultan Qaboos bin Said after a brief trip to Yemen.

The vice president, who is on a 12-nation tour, started his trip in Britain and followed with visits to Jordan and Egypt, where he has discussed the war against terror, the question of Iraq and violence in the Middle East.

In Yemen, he discussed those three issues with President Ali Abdullah Saleh. Cheney is the highest level U.S. official to visit to Yemen since then-Vice President George Bush, the president's father, visited in 1987.

Military aid in the fight against terror also was discussed in Yemen. About 20 to 30 U.S. military advisers would stay in Yemen for a month primarily for military training purposes, according to information given to reporters.

Yemen now believes it is a strategic partner with the United States, according to a government official, and believes fighting al Qaeda is a Yemeni matter.

"It's a Yemeni war against terrorists. People here want to do it themselves," the official was quoted as saying.

The official said Yemen no longer had any organized al Qaeda camps and stressed that Yemen was taking counterterrorism measures before the September 11 terror attack.

Saleh opposes any military action against Iraq.

"They don't want more oil on the fire," the official said.

A senior U.S. official said Tuesday that the Pentagon is hoping for an "execution order" to send initial forces to Yemen by the end of this week.

The order would send 40 to 80 U.S. troops to Yemen in an initial effort to train and equip the Yemeni military in counterterrorism.

The senior official indicated that the mission could grow from "train and equip" into an "assist and advise" effort much like the U.S. mission in the Philippines