Cheney plane lands in Singapore after minor problem

SINGAPORE, Feb 25 (Reuters) US Vice President Dick Cheney's plane, which encountered a mechanical problem after leaving Australia to return to the United States, landed safely in Singapore today.

''This was the pre-planned, scheduled fuel stop,'' said Cheney's spokeswoman Lea Anne McBride. ''We were not diverted,'' she added, following a comment by Australia's Prime Minister John Howard that Cheney's plane had been diverted to Singapore because of the mechanical problem.

McBride said there had been an issue with the electricity on the plane. Because of that, ''a call was placed back to Sydney with the status,'' she said, adding the electrical problem did not cut off Cheney's ability to communicate with the rest of the world.

The plane left Sydney's international airport at about 9 am today (5 pm EST (0330 hrs IST) yesterday), arriving at Singapore's Paya Lebar air base at about 2 pm Singapore time 1130 hrs IST.

''The vice president is skedded to remain on the plane. He is skedded to leave as soon as the refuelling is completed,'' a US embassy spokeswoman in Singapore said.

The problem had posed no safety issues and the aircraft was fine, the White House said earlier.

Cheney had been visiting Australia as part of a trip to thank Washington's Iraq war allies Japan and Australia.

Earlier, a Reuters photographer at Sydney airport said Air Force 2 had proceeded towards the runway as normal and revved its engines before the engines appeared to decelerate.

A mobile stairway was sent out to the plane but a door in the plane opened and an unidentified figure appeared in the hatchway and waved the stairway off, the Reuters photographer said.

The door was then closed and the plane proceeded to the runway and took off.

Cheney arrived in Sydney late on Thursday. Anti-war protesters who accuse him of being one of the main architects of the Iraq war scuffled briefly with police on Thursday and Friday.

A total of 11 people were arrested but his visit was otherwise uneventful.

Cheney's health has also been a concern in the past, with the vice president having a history of heart trouble.

REUTERS SY PM1246