Sarkozy, Bush to meet at historic George Washington home (2nd Roundup)

Oct 19, 2007, 17:37 GMT

Washington - US President George W Bush will host French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Washington next month, the White House said Friday, underscoring the thaw in relations between the two governments.

In the French leader's first official visit to Washington, Bush will host a White House dinner on November 6 and hold talks with Sarkozy on November 7 at Mount Vernon, the historic home of first US president George Washington.

They plan to discuss efforts to keep Iran from building nuclear weapons, bring peace to the Middle East, stabilise Afghanistan and uphold democracy in Lebanon, a White House statement said.

Darfur, Burma, Kosovo and the war on terrorism are other topics on the agenda.

Sarkozy won French presidential elections last spring on a platform including improved ties with the United States, which were severely strained by the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Bush, saying he wants to leave disagreements over Iraq behind, has met Sarkozy several times since the centre-right French leader replaced Bush foe Jacques Chirac as president in May.

In August, Bush hosted Sarkozy at an informal get-together over hamburgers and hot dogs at the Bush family's oceanside private compound in Kennebunkport, Maine.

Their planned visit to Mount Vernon, an estate 30 kilometres south of Washington overlooking the Potomac river, is an unusual touch evidently meant to underscore what the White House called 'deep historical bonds' between the United States and France.

That connection is rooted in French military support for the American colonies during their 18th-century war of independence from Britain, in which Washington served as a general.

The last sitting US president to welcome a head of state at Mount Vernon was George H W Bush, the current president's father, who hosted the late King Hussein of Jordan on April 19, 1989.