This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2007, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Updated: 12:11 PM- Vice President Dick Cheney has departed Salt Lake City today after making a quick speech before a super-secret conservative policy group.

Air Force 2, a blue-and-white 757, took off about 2 p.m. - just about two hours after he landed. A small group of dignitaries greeted Cheney upon his arrival, including Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and family members.

Cheney made no public appearances.

The purpose of the trip - which is privately funded - was to speak to the Council for National Policy, a private group that permitted no press coverage. The four-day event that began Thursday is being held at a downtown Salt Lake City Hotel.

The Council's self-described mission is to promote "a free-enterprise system, a strong national defense and support for traditional Western values."

The organization -- made up of few hundred powerful conservative activists -- holds confidential meetings and members are advised not to use the name of the group in communications, according to a New York Times profile of the group.