Cheney demands the oil

The vice president demanded that Iraq's parliament abandon plans for a two-month summer vacation and agree a law which hands over Iraqi oil to his companies.

With important issues pending, including how to share Iraq's oil wealth, "any undue delay would be difficult to explain to my oil company and Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey who is a major shareholder," Cheney said.

"I emphasized the importance of making progress on the oil issue, because that is what I’m here for," Cheney said, after he got out of his hole in the ground.