Abbas to visit White House in late March

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas will hold talks with US President George W. Bush at the White House at the end of the month, a Palestinian official said Thursday.
The visit follows a meeting in London this week where Abbas won EU, UN and US support for an ambitious package of reforms intended to create a viable Palestinian state living in peace with Israel should an elusive peace ever become reality.
It will be the first trip to the White House by a president of the Palestinian Authority since Bush took office in January 2001 following his administration's long-time boycott of Abbas's predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat.
No specific date has yet been set however.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice extended invitations to White House talks to Abbas and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon during a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories in February.
Washington had said the two leaders would travel to Washington for separate audiences in March or April.
Abbas last met Bush at the White House in July 2003 in his capacity as Arafat's prime minister.

03/03/2005 13:31 GMT