U.S. President George W. Bush asked Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi on Wednesday to resume U.S. beef imports and to help prod Pyongyang to the negotiating table.

The two leaders, in a phone summit Wednesday night, agreed North Korea must be urged back to six-party talks and that China should play a significant role in that effort.

Imports of U.S. beef have been halted since the first U.S. case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) was found in December 2003.

Bush asked Koizumi to help settle the trade issue, Foreign Ministry officials said. Koizumi replied he would like to see an early resumption of imports, but he could not say exactly when that may be.

``But I'll try not to mar our relationship over this issue,'' Koizumi pledged, officials said.

The 15-minute phone call came at the request of Washington, presumably because the beef ban issue is becoming a new source of tension.

A resolution submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives last week urged retaliatory measures against Japan if Tokyo continues to drag its feet over a resumption of beef imports agreed to in October.

The beef issue is expected to top the agenda during U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit here March 18-19.

Koizumi also told Bush that he had invited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to Tokyo.

The invitation was extended by Koizumi to the two sides' envoys in Japan in separate meetings Wednesday.

Sharon's visit would be in late May or early June, and Abbas would visit in May, the envoys replied.

Koizumi told Bush that Tokyo would make further efforts toward Mideast peace, in close communication with Washington. Bush thanked Koizumi for his leadership, the officials added.(IHT/Asahi: March 11,2005)