RAMALLAH: Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas is to meet US President George W Bush in New York on Wednesday, a Palestinian official said. "President Mahmoud Abbas is going to meet President Bush in New York on Wednesday after talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday," chief negotiator Saeb Erakat told a news conference.He was speaking after a meeting in the West Bank town of Ramallah Saturday between Abbas and US consul general in east Jerusalem Jacob Walles. Abbas and Bush last met in the United States in October last year. Wednesday's encounter will take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, and comes as the Islamist movement Hamas and Abbas are trying to finalise the formation of a government of national unity in order to end a political crisis and Western boycott.