A special envoy of President George W Bush will hold talks with the Dalai Lama next week on the "ongoing and serious" problem in Tibet, the highest level of contact between the administration and the Tibetan spiritual leader since an unrest erupted in the Himalayan region, the US said today.

It, however, maintained that the meeting will not represent any "new initiative" though the two sides would discuss America's view that the Chinese authorities ought to engage in discussions with the Dalai Lama on Tibet issue.

The comments from the State Department came even as top administration officials said that President Bush will be attending the Olympics but continued to hedge on whether he will be there for the opening ceremonies.

"Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky, who is also the Special Envoy for Tibet, is going to be meeting with the Dalai Lama in Michigan on April 21," State Department Deputy Spokesman Tom Casey said.

"I'm sure there have been some conversations between her staff and the Dalai Lama's staff to set that meeting up. Beyond that, I'm not aware that there has been any substantive contacts at a higher level between the Dalai Lama and other officials here in this building," Casey said.

Describing the Dalai Lama, now on a US visit, as "someone who carries a great deal of moral authority among Tibetan officials," he said the Tibetan leader and Dobriansky were "going to be talking about our view that Chinese authorities ought to engage in a discussion with the Dalai Lama." "We'll be interested in hearing his views on the situation there... We'll be interested in hearing about that and any other thoughts and ideas he might have about the situation there."

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