U.S. President George W. Bush offered Monday to meet at the White House with newly elected Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Bush also congratulated Abbas in a telephone call and said, according to a spokesman, that he envisioned "a day when he and president-elect Abbas and Israel's leaders could stand together and say, `We have peace.'" Bush extended an invitation for Abbas to visit the White House when Abbas "felt it was a good time to come," said press secretary Scott McClellan. They did not discuss specific dates. British Prime Minister Tony Blair 's offer during a visit to Ramallah to host a one-day Mideast conference did draw support from the administration as a way to promote Palestinian democracy. The president does not plan to attend but is likely to send a top official to London for the parley, a U.S. official said. Bush is hopeful the conference will help inspire democratic change within the Palestinian movement, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity. --MORE 1036 Local Time 0736 GMT
