Cheney consults Bahrain king

US Vice President Dick Cheney visited the major US military base in the Gulf today, saying his Middle East tour remained focused on Iraq despite opposition to any attack on the country from regional leaders.

Bahrain was the seventh stop on Cheney’s trip to 11 Middle Eastern states, during which he is sounding out opinion about US proposals to unseat Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. So far the leaders have told Cheney they oppose any military strike on a fellow Arab state.

Speaking to hundreds of US sailors and Marines at the 5th Fleet’s base in Bahrain, Cheney said his meetings focused on tackling regimes seeking weapons of mass destruction.

‘‘The danger is very real and growing,’’ he said.

Cheney then held talks with the king, Sheik Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, and members of the Bahraini Cabinet.

The vice president was scheduled to fly to Qatar later Sunday. On Monday he is due to hold talks in Kuwait, which US troops helped liberate in 1991 from a seven-month Iraqi occupation, and then fly to Israel.