In town for a concert, U2 rock star Bono was invited to lunch today with the president of the USA.

White House president secretary Scott McClellan said the meeting at the executive residence would be a follow-up on talks Bono had with President George Bush in July at the G8 summit in Scotland.

“They had a very good discussion about some of our common priorities,” McClellan said. “Both share a deep commitment to combating aids, preventing malaria and expanding trade to lift people out of poverty.”

McClellan said Bono also planned to meet with National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley later in the day, before U2’s concert at the MCI Centre in Washington, DC.

The spokesman laughingly told reporters that Bush was not planning to attend the concert.

Since 1999, Bono has been a persistent and often-successful lobbyist in the US, persuading Republicans and Democrats, presidents and politicians, to provide millions to help end the scourge of AIDS, eliminate poverty in Africa and forgive Third World debt.