President Bush is holding talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in Northern Ireland over the war in Iraq and the state of the country afterward.
The president arrived in Northern Ireland earlier on Monday and went immediately to a meeting with Mr. Blair at the location of their two-day summit, Hillsborough Castle near Belfast.
The two leaders differ over the role the United Nations should play once the conflict in Iraq is over. Mr. Blair is pushing for a prominent UN role, while the Bush administration says the US-led coalition should take the lead in administering Iraq during the immediate post-war period.
Sunday, US Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said the coalition will take the initial responsibility for administering Iraq and that it may take more than six months before power is handed over to an interim Iraqi government.
Mr. Bush left Washington early on Monday for his third summit with Prime Minister Blair in less than a month. During their talks near Belfast, Mr. Bush and Mr. Blair also are expected to discuss the peace process in the Middle East and Northern Ireland.
Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern will join the summit Tuesday, when the leaders turn their attention to efforts to breathe new life into the stalled Catholic-Protestant peace process in Northern Ireland.