WASHINGTON, Jan 10: President George Bush said on Monday he would invite Palestinian election winner Mahmud Abbas to Washington for talks and linked the success of the Palestinian vote to his hopes for Iraq later this month.

"I offer my congratulations to Abu Mazen. I look forward to talking to him at the appropriate time. I look forward to welcoming him here to Washington if he chooses to come here," Mr Bush told reporters at the White House.

Mr Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen, scored a landslide victory in Sunday's election to find a successor to the late Yasser Arafat. Mr Bush had refused all contact with Yasser Arafat, accusing him of doing too little to prevent attacks on Israel by radical groups.

"This is a man who has been elected by what appears to be a good-sized vote," said Mr Bush. "I'm heartened by the elections." Mr Abbas visited the White House as Palestinian prime minister in 2003. But he stood down a few months later following several disagreements with Mr Arafat.

The US leader backed a conference being organized by Britain on March 1-2 on Palestinian security and political and economic reforms. The conference was "aimed at helping the Palestinians develop the institutions necessary to support Abu Mazen's vision of a peaceful, active, vibrant state to become reality", he said.

Mr Bush also took the opportunity to link the success of Sunday's vote to the Iraqi election on Jan 30 and said the two events would make 2005 "an extraordinary year". -AFP