US President George W Bush will focus on his efforts to bring democracy to Iraq when he meets Arab-Americans in Michigan on Monday.
In the Detroit suburb of Dearborn, home to many Arab immigrants, Bush plans to talk about 'his optimistic vision of a liberated Iraq and how Iraq can live in peace with its neighbours and become representative of Islamic democracy', White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.
He will encourage the residents to take part in ensuring a 'free and prosperous and democratic future for Iraq', Fleischer said.
"One of the most encouraging signs you see about the future of Iraq is the fact that the Iraqi community in the United States and many other countries want to contribute to the future of the country from which they fled or in which they were born," he said. "And that's a hopeful sign."
Also on Monday, Jay Garner, the retired US general administering post-war Iraq, will hold talks with 300 to 400 prominent Iraqis in Baghdad to discuss the country's future and identify potential leaders after Saddam Hussein's ouster.
Pro-American Ahmad Chalabi, 58, the leader of the Iraqi National Congress who has spent most of his life in the West, has been invited to the Baghdad meeting. Widely regarded as the Pentagon's favoured candidate, Chalabi on Sunday denied that his ties to the US had helped fuel anti-American sentiment since Baghdad fell.
"This is largely uninformed," he said in an interview with CNN. "There is no daylight between me and Iraqis here who stayed throughout Saddam's regime... There is complete harmony of views between us."
The first meeting convened by Garner to discuss the shape of a new government was held two weeks ago in the southern town of Nasiriya. Chalabi did not attend.
"We've been working with these groups of people and other groups of people who want to contribute to a new and free Iraq," Fleischer said. "And we're pleased to have people like Mr Chalabi and many others, who have returned to Iraq to help their homeland."
