UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon will be in Washington on Tuesday, where he will meet U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House, UN Spokesperson Michele Montas said Monday.

During the visit, Ban will also go to Capitol Hill, where he will have discussions Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning with leaders of both houses of the U.S. Congress -- Democrats as well as Republicans.

The UN chief, who took over from his predecessor Kofi Annan of Ghana on Jan. 1, will deliver a public speech hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The meeting with the U.S. president would be Ban's first in his capacity as secretary-general, Montas said, adding that Ban had met Bush as secretary-general-designate once last year.

Source: Xinhua