Obama To Host NATO Chief At White House

U.S. President Barack Obama (right) and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the White House in November

U.S. President Barack Obama is scheduled to host NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at the White House on May 9 ahead of a NATO summit in Chicago later this month.

A NATO statement says Rasmussen also planned to meet with members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A statement from the White House says Obama and Rasmussen would discuss final preparations for the NATO summit in Chicago on May 20-21.

Afghanistan is expected to dominate the summit agenda, with alliance members working out details of the planned withdrawal of their military forces from the country by the end of 2014.

Some 130,000 foreign soldiers, mostly from NATO member countries, are fighting alongside about 350,000 Afghan security forces against Talban and Al-Qaeda militants.

With reporting by AFP