US Defense Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld was delayed for six hours in Shannon, overnight after his aircraft experienced mechanical problems while en route to the Gulf for week-long tour of the region.
Speaking in Shannon early this morning he said that long and difficult work lays ahead for the US in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
Mr Rumsfeld arrived in Abu Dhabi this morning after his Shannon stop-over to thank the United Arab Emirates for the use of an air base during the war against Iraq and to open discussions on post-war military arrangements in the region.
The United Arab Emirates, the first stop of Rumsfeld's week-long tour of the region, allowed US air forces to use its base at al-Dhafra during the war for refueling aircraft, and U-2 reconnaissance and RC-135 surveillance planes.
His meetings with leaders and US commanders in the region would deal with "the evolution that is taking place from major combat operations to stability operations," Mr Rumsfeld told reporters on the flight from Washington.
Another objective was "to discuss with our allies in the countries around Iraq the arrangements we have with them, and our partnership and cooperation as we look forward to the end at some point to major combat operations in Iraq," he said.
The tour, details of which have been kept confidential, will take Rumsfeld to Afghanistan as well as other still to be identified countries.
As Washington rethinks is military posture in the region in the aftermath of Saddam Hussein's fall in Baghdad, it is contemplating a lighter, less obtrusive "footprint" throughout the region.
AFP