Howard revealed as Blair House guest

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (UPI) -- Ex-Australian Prime Minister John Howard is the formerly unnamed party who has booked Washington's Blair House, bumping Barack Obama, officials said.

Howard, who will be receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President George Bush next week, booked the 70,000-square-foot, 119-room mansion across the street from the White House, foiling hopes by the U.S. president-elect and his family to stay there before moving into their new official residence, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

After much speculation about who had pushed Obama off the Blair House waiting list, Sally McDonough, a spokeswoman for first lady Laura Bush, confirmed it was Howard who had been offered and had booked a stay there. Obama and his family instead took a suite across Washington's Lafayette Square at the historic Hay-Adams Hotel, the Post said.

Howard, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, three staunch Bush political allies, will receive the awards on Jan. 13.

The incoming first family requested an early move-in at Blair House so Obama's daughters could settle in to start classes at Sidwell Friends School, the newspaper said.