After his talks with Bush, Blair will travel to the country's west coast.

"He will meet on Friday President Bush and visit San Francisco and LA (Los Angeles)," the prime minister's official spokesman told reporters, without providing details on the reason for the California stop.

The trip will be Blair's second to the White House in less than two months.

On Friday, the White House said the two allies would use the meeting to discuss the Middle East crisis and other world troublespots, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran and Sudan's western Darfur region.

Bush and Blair last held talks in Washington on May 26, which were then focused on Iraq.

The international community is now confronted with fresh Middle East violence as Israel bombs Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, leaving more than 360 dead and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.