Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is scheduled to meet US president George W Bush today.

According to Bernama , Abdullah flew into New York yesterday to deliver a statement at the 61st session of the United Nations General Assembly (Unga).

He arrived in the United States after attending the 14th Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Havana which saw Malaysia relinquishing the chairmanship of NAM to Cuba.

Abdullah's appearance at the UN is scheduled for Wednesday but before that he will meet Bush.

Before leaving Havana, the prime minister said that as head of a Muslim nation and chairman of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC), he would raise at the meeting with Bush the conflict in West Asia which was affecting Muslims all over the world.

Abdullah was quoted as saying that there were many things he wanted to raise, such as the importance of fairness in the conduct of all matters.

Detained Malaysians

It is likely that he will ask Bush about the fate of the two Malaysians detained in Guantanamo Bay on suspicion of being terrorists.

News reports last week said two Malaysians were listed as among 14 suspected terrorists who had been transferred from the Central Intelligence Agency's secret detention centre outside the US to the American military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Abdullah is also scheduled to meet former president Bill Clinton.

Meanwhile, a White House statement said besides Abdullah, Bush would meet five other world leaders during the general assembly.

These include President Jacques Chirac of France, President Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador, Honduran President Manuel Zelaya Rosales, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete and UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.