RAMALLAH, West Bank - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas is to hold talks in Washington with US President George W. Bush in two weeks, Palestinian officials said Friday.
He is set to meet Bush at the White House on May 26, a member of his entourage told AFP from Chile where Abbas was paying an official visit.
However, White House spokesman Scott McClellan declined to confirm the claim.
McClellan said to reporters in Washington: "Are you asking me to confirm something I haven`t even announced yet? You know our policy on announcements."
If the Abbas-Bush meeting goes ahead it would be the first trip to the White House by a Palestinian Authority president since Bush took office in January 2001, given his administration`s long-time boycott of Abbas`s predecessor, the late Yasser Arafat.
His visit would likely to cement his growing rapprochement with the Bush administration, which has congratulated him on his pledge to crack down on violence and for imbibing the Middle East peace process with "activism".
Abbas last met Bush at the White House in July 2003 when he was Arafat`s prime minister.
Palestinian deputy prime minister Nabil Shaath told AFP that Abbas had turned down invitations to visit other countries in Asia, in addition to tours of Japan and China, in order to be in Washington by the end of the month.
Attending the first Arab-South American summit in Brasilia on Wednesday, Abbas said he would ask Washington to put political pressure on Israel to adhere to the roadmap peace plan and for economic aid.
The peace blueprint, drafted by the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and Washington, has made next to no progress since its launch in 2003.
05/13/2005 18:45 GMT