WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- President Bush on Monday is expected to meet with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the Oval Office as he begins a week courting members of the international anti-terror coalition to shore up support for the U.S.-led campaign against terrorism.
"The president will be meeting with the president of Algeria later this afternoon to talk about cooperation in the war on terrorism," White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said during his Monday briefing with reporters.
Since Oct. 7, the United States has bombed targets inside Afghanistan in retaliation against that country's Taliban regime's refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden, the man Washington says masterminded the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
As part of the U.S. anti-terrorism effort, Bush was to welcome members of the anti-terrorist coalition to the White House to brief them on the U.S.-led campaign. British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French President Jacques Chirac, Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern were to visit Washington this week.
Bush was also to address by satellite leaders of the Central European states in Warsaw, Poland, and brief them on the war against terrorism. He was also preparing for his first address before the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
Fleischer described the speech and the visits as a "confluence of events and it is no surprise that more meetings are coming prior to the United Nations address on Saturday."
Bilateral meetings with world leaders continue during the president's trip to New York City with a meeting with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who has come under increasing pressure by Muslims in his country to withdraw his country's support for bombing in Afghanistan.
Next week, Bush travels to his ranch in Crawford, Texas, for the first time since the attacks, where he will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The two leaders are expected to undertake discussions on the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the U.S. desire to scuttle the pact in favor of a new framework that would allow testing of a missile defense shield. Bush believes such a system would protect America from accidental launches or launches by nations it regards as rogue states.
