Edward Abbington, a former US consul general in Jerusalem and now an adviser to Abbas, said neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians are convinced that Cheney is an integral player in the peace process.

"They told me they had no idea why Cheney was even coming to see them," Abbington said, "The Israelis are more interested in what Cheney has to say about Iran and blessing their continued strikes against Gaza than anything he has to say about the peace process."

No conmmitment for oil production increase

Cheney's trip to Saudi Arabia highlighted the issue of the unsteady global energy market, which has seen soaring oil prices that have dealt a blow to the US economy alongside a housing market crisis.

The United States wants world oil producers to increase output to ease oil prices, but Bush's call in January for OPEC to increase production was turned down, with the crude oil exporters' group deciding to hold production steady.

Cheney, who was expected to keep pressing the issue, chose to turn to Saudi Arabia for oil output increase as it is the only OPEC member that can easily add significant amounts of extra oil to the market.

No commitment, however, has been made from the Saudi side to increase output despite a "good and thorough discussion" between Cheney and the Saudi King.

The result, some analysts said, was expected as Cheney could not exert much pressure on the Gulf countries to have them raise oil production or to encourage OPEC to do so.

(Xinhua News Agency March 26, 2008)