PRESIDENT-ELECT Barack Obama held talks with US president George Bush on the transfer of powers that will take place in January during an hour-long meeting in the White House yesterday.
However, it is already clear that Mr Obama is preparing to close Guantánamo Bay prison and transfer inmates for trial in the US, and will immediately reverse a series of Mr Bush's orders once in power.
Despite expectations for speedy news on key jobs such as treasury secretary, Mr Obama has decided not to make any this week. "No cabinet announcements this week," said spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter.
The next attorney general, who will face the task of dealing with the Guantánamo Bay prison, is likely to be Eric Holder, who will become the first African-American to occupy the post if selected.
Some low-risk prisoners are to be released, Mr Obama's aides have said, while a "new system of justice" will have to be created to ensure that sensitive national security information is not divulged during trials.
Mr Obama is also set to immediately reverse Mr Bush's embryonic stem-cell research ban, and any attempt Mr Bush makes in his final months to accelerate oil and gas drilling in nature reserves.
Mr Obama, and his wife, Michelle, arrived at the south portico of the White House shortly before 2pm local time, where they were greeted by Mr Bush and his wife Laura.
The two men posed briefly for photographs, before Mr Bush ushered his successor in for his first Oval Office visit. Mr Obama placed his arm momentarily on Mr Bush's shoulder as they entered.
Mrs Bush then took Mrs Obama on a tour of the living quarters that will be home to the Obama family for the next four years.
A CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll indicates Mr Bush is preparing to leave office with the lowest approval ratings from the public recorded in six decades of polling.
Some 76 per cent of those questioned disapprove of his performance, leaving Mr Bush with an even higher disapproval than when Richard Nixon quit at the height of the Watergate scandal.
Mr Obama, who has vowed not to overshadow Mr Bush during his final months, yesterday opened a Washington office to prepare for the transition, which formally takes place with an inauguration on January 20th.
Nevertheless, the preparations are taking place at an accelerated pace. The meeting which took place yesterday has taken place in December during past transitions.
The scale of the economic crisis facing Mr Obama was illustrated yesterday by an overhaul yesterday of a month-old rescue plan for troubled insurance company American International Group (AIG). It yesterday announced it lost $27 billion in the last three months, while it was also struggling to meet the costs of the original $120 billion bailout.
Under the revised plan, the US government will replace the entire previous package with a $152 billion package, including a $40 billion purchase of shares and a $50 billion buyout of worthless loans. "This action was necessary to maintain the stability of our financial system," said Neel Kashkari, the head of the US treasury's $700 billion dollar rescue operation for the financial industry.
Meanwhile, the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, quoting a former al-Qaeda commander, claimed Osama bin Laden is planning a new attack on the US that will be "far greater than 9/11. . . that will change the world [both] politically and economically", according to a translation from the Washington-based Middle East Media Research Institute.
Defeated Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has continued to defend herself from attacks, but this time she did so by attacking Mr Bush's record. Americans were unhappy the Bush administration had "run up a $10 trillion debt", she said: "So desiring change people went as far from the administration as they could. It's amazing that we did as well as we did."
