US defense, diplomacy chiefs make key Mideast trip Monday

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush's defense chief and top diplomat head Monday on a vital mission to the Middle East to seek Arab support for Iraq and discuss weapons sales to regional allies.

Amid growing calls at home to withdraw US forces in Iraq, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and defense chief Robert Gates were also expected to reaffirm US commitment to regional security against possible threats from Iran and its nuclear program.

In addition, Washington is expected to underline concerns that some Sunni Arab nations are offering financial aid to foreign fighters fueling the insurgency against the fragile Shiite-led, US-backed government in Baghdad.

On the trip Rice and Gates will make rare joint visits to Egypt and Saudi Arabia before separate trips to other parts of the region.

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Zalmay Khalilzad, complained Sunday that some neighbors of Iraq, including Saudi Arabia, were undermining efforts to stabilize the war-ravaged nation.

Khalilzad acknowledged on CNN that he was also referring to Saudi Arabia when he wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times last week that "Several of Iraq's neighbors -- not only Syria and Iran but also some friends of the United States -- are pursuing destabilizing policies."

"Yes, well, there is no question that ... Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries are not doing all they can to help us in Iraq," Khalilzad, the former US ambassador to Iraq, told the US news network.

The envoy described these countries as "great" US allies and said the future of Iraq was the most important issue affecting the region.

"And therefore, we would expect and want them to help us on this strategic issue more than they are doing. And at times, some of them are not only not helping, (they) are doing things that is undermining the effort to make progress," he told CNN.

Washington is particularly concerned that its most powerful Sunni Arab ally, Saudi Arabia, is bankrolling Sunni militants and serving as a conduit for them to stoke the insurgency in Iraq.

Aside from Saudi Arabia, foreign fighters flowing into Iraq via US arch-enemy Syria come from Qatar and Yemen, among other Middle East allies, US officials said earlier this week.

Gates and Rice will "discuss the ways in which Iraq's neighbors can help advance the cause of security and stability in that country," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

The duo "are going to be talking to the Saudis as well as others about what they might do" in supporting the Iraqi government, not only on the security front but also diplomatically and financially, McCormack said.

Their "historical differences and tensions are going to need to be overcome," he said.