JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will visit Washington in mid-April for talks with US President George W. Bush, his office said Sunday, amid efforts to kick start the Middle East peace process.
The source said the exact date for the summit had not been set.
Public radio, however, said the two leaders would meet on April 12 to discuss the implementation of Israel's plan to end its occupation of the Gaza Strip as well as relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Sharon last visited the White House in April 2004 on what was his ninth trip to Washington since taking office in March 2001.
On Thursday, a Palestinian official said Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas would hold separate talks with Bush at the White House at the end of the month.
It will be the first such trip 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.
Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom is due to meet his US counterpart Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on Tuesday.
03/06/2005 12:28 GMT