Bush was scheduled to arrive in Belfast around 6:00 pm (1700 GMT) for his third summit in less than a month with Blair, no doubt encouraged that forces loyal to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein appeared to be crumbling in the face of the US advance on the Iraqi capital.

Security was tight for the summit hastily announced on Friday, with police in Belfast responding Monday to three bomb alerts -- including one at the airport where Air Force One was to land.

"What the summit will give us is a chance to take stock of where we are," a spokesman for Blair told reporters in London.

"It seems a lot longer than -- what was it? -- 10 days that we were at Camp David," the presidential retreat outside Washington where Bush and Blair last met.

"We will want to take stock of that (and) discuss the post-conflict situation in terms of the scale of how we will make the transition to Iraqi rule as quickly as possible."

Besides Iraq, the two leaders -- huddling at Hillsborough Castle, just outside Belfast -- will also discuss the war's impact on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, transatlantic ties and other "strategic" issues, the spokesman said.

With Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern on Tuesday, they will also try to exploit the presidential visit to give a filip to the stalled peace process in Northern Ireland.

Bush and Blair broadly agree on the need for the United Nations to endorse a post-war administration in Iraq, but the United States is stalling on European demands for the UN to play a front-and-center role.

Concern was raised over the weekend when US deputy defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz suggested Iraq might have to remain under US military control for more than six months once Saddam's regime falls.

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon told reporters in London on Monday that it was "obviously right" that security in the "immediate aftermath" of the war should be kept in US and British military hands.

But he stressed there must be an "early move" towards Iraq being run by Iraqis -- both because that would be "right and proper," and because Britain did not want to keep troops in Iraq longer than needed.

By agreeing to meet Blair in Northern Ireland, Bush will also repaying a favor to Blair by endorsing Anglo-Irish efforts to end three decades of sectarian strife and bloodshed in the province.

Thursday is the fifth anniversary of the Good Friday accords between leaders of the pro-British Protestant majority and the republican Catholic minority.

It is also the deadline set by Blair and Ahern for drawing up proposals to revive the peace process, currently stalled amid a climate by mistrust between Protestants and Catholics.

Blair's spokesman said: "The president coming to Northern Ireland is a statement of the United States' recommitment to the Good Friday agreement ... and its belief, along with the belief of the British and Irish governments, that the agreement offers the only viable way forward that will bring a lasting settlement to Northern Ireland."

SPACE.WIRE