US Vice President may vist Japan in Feb -report

TOKYO, Jan 13 (Reuters) US Vice President Dick Cheney may visit Japan for talks with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, possibly as early as next month, a Japanese daily reported today.

Quoting U.S and Japanese diplomatic sources, the Asahi Shimbun daily said that Cheney would visit Japan to explain Washington's plan to send an additional 21,000 troops to Iraq.

The Asahi said the visit was being arranged so there would not be too long a gap in meetings between the leaders of the two countries.

Abe, who took office in September, met US President George W Bush for the first time on the sidelines of an Asian-Pacific leaders' meeting in Hanoi in November, and while the two are widely expected to meet in the United States this year, the meeting is not seen likely until late in the spring.

Officials at the Foreign Ministry and US embassy in Tokyo could not be reached for comment.

Abe told Bush in a phone call earlier this week that he strongly expected US efforts to stabilize and rebuild Iraq would proceed in an effective manner and bring about good results, according to a statement.

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