Bush was to meet Wednesday with Slovak President Rudolf Schuster, whose country has said it will give the United States a list of companies that could help to rebuild Iraq once the hostilities are over.

On Thursday, the US leader was to meet with the presidents of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua for talks the White House says will focus on a US-Central America free trade agreement.

But those countries could also provide political support if the pre-war rift between the United States and some traditional allies widens over the UN role when it comes time to rebuild Iraq and set up a new government.

France, Germany, Russia and to a lesser extent China drew Bush's ire in March when they banded together to defeat his efforts to win UN Security Council approval of a new resolution authorizing the war against Iraq.

French President Jacques Chirac will travel to Saint Petersburg Friday for two days of talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

That meeting comes a week after their foreign ministers met in Paris and called for an early role for the United Nations in running post-war Iraq, voicing concern about a humanitarian emergency there.

Bush and his chief ally in the war, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, earlier Tuesday pledged at a joint press conference in Belfast, Northern Ireland, that the United Nations would play a "vital role" in post-war Iraq.

However they gave no clear indication of how involved the world body would become.

Bush and senior US officials have displayed reluctance to allow the United Nations to take on a leading role, while Blair is known to want humanitarian operations in postwar Iraq to be overseen by the world body.

Slovak Industry Minister Robert Nemcsics was to visit the United States from April 9 to 14 and meet with representatives of the US administration charged with Iraq's reconstruction.

US Commerce Secretary Donald Evans visited Slovakia in February and said Washington "would surely think of its friends who have stuck by its side" during the Iraqi standoff, when the time comes to rebuild the country.

Slovakian officials have said that their country could especially be of help in the construction and energy spheres.

On Thursday, Bush meets with presidents Abel Pacheco of Costa Rica, Francisco Flores of El Salvador, Alfonso Portillo of Guatemala, Ricardo Maduro of Honduras, and Enrique Bolanos of Nicaragua.

"These leaders are not only building democracy's foundations at home but are also supportive of our efforts to disarm Saddam Hussein and liberate the Iraqi people," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said last week.

"The President looks forward to discussing with his Central American colleagues the current state of negotiations on the US-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and to advancing our common goals to promote peace, prosperity, and stability in the Western Hemisphere," he said.

SPACE.WIRE