25 January 2004	Sunday	02 Zilhaj 1424

DAVOS, Jan 24: US Vice President Dick Cheney urged Europe on Saturday to join the United States in promoting "democracy" in Iran and the Arab world as the key to winning the "war against terrorism".

"We must confront the ideologies of violence at the source, by promoting democracy throughout the greater Middle East and beyond," Mr Cheney told political and business leaders gathered at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss mountain resort of Davos.

In a speech aimed at healing transatlantic relations frayed by a bitter dispute over the Iraq war, Mr Cheney described the war on terror in broader, softer terms to counter criticism that Washington focuses too narrowly on military solutions.

"Our forward strategy for freedom commits us to support those who work and sacrifice for reform across the greater Middle East. We call upon our democratic friends and allies everywhere, and in Europe in particular, to join us in this effort," he said.

DEMOCRACY IN IRAN: Europe and the United States should join in encouraging the Iranian government to "honour the legitimate demands of the Iranian people", he said.

In a later question and answer session, Mr Cheney said "we'll have to see" if Iran would comply with international inspections of its atomic energy programme.

Despite Iran's insistence the programme was solely for generating power, he said Washington believed Tehran had been "actively and aggressively" pursuing efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.

In response to questions, Mr Cheney said the United States did not see itself as a world empire.

He acknowledged some "glitches" in the way the United States had implemented tighter security and immigration measures since Sept 11.

And he defended the detention without trial of more than 600 "war on terror" suspects at a U.S. military base in Cuba, saying some would be prosecuted, some freed, and others handed over to their own countries.

His conciliatory speech was delivered from the same podium where UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday warned against following the "laws of the jungle" in the quest for global security.

EU AND NATO: Mr Cheney acknowledged European efforts to stop the spread of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East and reaffirmed Washington's commitment to the Nato defence alliance.

He said Nato's future lay outside the European heartland and urged Europe to step up its long-range military capabilities. He also urged the European Union, as it develops its own defence policy, not to shrink from military power and influence.

"America wants the strongest possible Europe. And just as we must not force you to choose between your European and transatlantic vocations, you must not sell yourselves short and settle for less than the military capability and influence that your people deserve," Mr Cheney said.

With the US military stretched by engagements in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, Mr Cheney said "today that need is critical" for Europe to step up its troop deployment capacity. He noted that Europe and Canada had 1.4 million soldiers under arms, of whom just 55,000 were deployed abroad.

Nato and the European Union could not "afford waste, duplication or competition", he said in an allusion to lingering U.S. concern about plans for an EU military planning cell.

Mr Cheney showed no sign of backing off from a central element of the US case for war on Iraq - its alleged unconventional weapons stockpiles and programmes - even after the head of the U.S. hunt for Iraqi weapons quit on Friday and said he doubted any such stockpiles existed.

The world's democracies must send an "unmistakable message" that "the pursuit of weapons of mass destruction only invites isolation and carries great costs," he said.

He credited "quiet diplomacy" for Libya's decision last month to abandon its unconventional weapons programmes. But he said this was reinforced by a German-Italian operation to intercept nuclear equipment bound for Libya, and America's proven determination to fight the spread of unconventional weapons. "We mean exactly what we say," he said.-Reuters