Bush-Chirac meeting in the works: US official

WASHINGTON, Dec 21 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush and French President Jacques Chirac are trying to schedule a meeting in the United States "in the near future," a senior US administration official told AFP Tuesday. Franco-US ties suffered from the refusal by Paris to support the US-led March 2003 invasion of Iraq, although officials on both sides say counter-terrorism cooperation in other respects has been excellent.

Bush and Chirac are expected to see each other when the US president meets with NATO and EU leaders in Brussels as he makes a fence-mending visit to Europe in late February, the official said on condition of anonymity.

"We have also talked with President Chirac's office about President Chirac visiting the US in the near future. We're working on times and dates convenient for President Chirac," the US official said.

Asked whether the meeting would take place before or after Bush's February trip to Europe -- his first overseas travel after formally beginning his second four-year term -- the official replied: "To be determined. Either, or."