I wish he’d stay there……

SYDNEY (Reuters) - The plane carrying Vice President Dick Cheney from Australia to the United States was diverted to Singapore on Sunday because of unspecified problems, Australian Prime Minister John Howard said.

“I am not aware of the full circumstances and I have not been told except that it has been diverted,” Howard told reporters in Sydney.

“As to the precise circumstances I’m not as yet advised,” he said.

Australian media including Sky Television and Australian Associated Press reported that the plane had experienced unspecified mechanical problems.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. consulate in Sydney said she was not aware of the circumstances or of Cheney’s proposed route and referred further questions to the White House.

The United States embassy in Singapore said it was not aware of any problems with Cheney’s plane or of his planned route.

Cheney’s plane left Sydney’s international airport at about 9 a.m. (2200 GMT Saturday) to return to the United States.

Cheney was in Sydney as part of a trip to thank Washington’s Iraq war allies Japan and Australia and to reassure them that President George W. Bush’s plans to inject 21,500 more troops would help quell violence.

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