Japan PM Abe to meet Bush in U S in spring -Kyodo

TOKYO, Jan 5 (Reuters) Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is likely to visit the United States in late April or early May for talks with U S President George W. Bush, Kyodo news agency said today.

Abe and Bush are expected to discuss strengthening the U.S.-Japan alliance and other issues including Iraq, North Korea and the overall situation in East Asia, Kyodo said, citing unnamed Japanese and U S government sources.

The two governments have agreed to schedule the visit after Japan finishes writing its budget for the year from April 1, most likely during Japan's holiday-studded ''Golden Week'' period that stretches from April 28 to May 6, it said.

Abe and Bush held their first summit in November on the sidelines of a regional forum in Hanoi, when Bush invited Abe to visit the United States at an early date. Abe replied that he looked forward to doing so sometime in 2007.

Abe, who took office in September, is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi by developing a close personal friendship with the U S president.

The last visit by a Japanese prime minister to the United States was in July, when the maverick Koizumi travelled with Bush from Washington to Memphis, Tennessee, to visit Graceland, the home of Koizumi's idol Elvis Presley.

REUTERS AKJ BS1736