Obama, Merkel to air differences at meeting
* Merkel to press Obama on economy, climate
* Obama seeks German support on Afghanistan, Guantanamo (Adds quote from Merkel about climate change)
By Jeff Mason
WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will debate how to fix the economy and fight climate change on Friday in a White House meeting that is likely to highlight a range of differences between the two leaders.
Unrest in Iran after the Islamic republic's disputed presidential poll, the war in Afghanistan and a U.S. request that Germany take prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are also issues likely to be on the agenda.
Merkel and Obama, who will attend the Group of Eight summit of wealthy nations in Italy next month, have clashed over the best way to lift the globe out of recession, but analysts say relations between the two leaders are solid.
"They're going to continue conversations as we head into the G8 about the importance of continuing to make progress and getting our world economy back on track," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Thursday, noting Obama and Merkel had recently met in Germany.
"Obviously, North Korea and Iran will be discussed, as they were in Germany. And I think, I assume, issues such as Guantanamo Bay and others will be on the docket," he said.
Climate change will also be on the agenda. Merkel, considered a leader on the issue, will press Obama to back a European Union goal of limiting increases in global average temperatures to no more than 2 degrees Celsius.
Her visit coincides with a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a bill capping carbon emissions.
"Climate change is indeed a very important issue, and as I see it, there has been a sea change here in the United States on that," Merkel said after visiting Capitol Hill. "It is very gratifying to note this."
Obama and Merkel are scheduled to hold a joint press conference at 11:30 a.m. EDT/1530 GMT.
Obama presided over a $787 billion U.S. economic stimulus package shortly after taking office earlier this year, while Merkel has spoken against massive spending to fix the world's economic ills.
A senior German official said the chancellor wanted to discuss an "exit strategy" for short-term economic fixes such as stimulus spending.
"It's an issue for the future, but one we feel needs to be discussed now," the official said.
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES, ELECTION
Obama and Merkel disagree on international security topics as well. Berlin has shunned U.S. calls that it commit more troops to the war in Afghanistan, which is deeply unpopular in Germany.
Merkel's government has also resisted U.S. requests that it accept inmates from the Guantanamo prison that Obama plans to close by early 2010.
Merkel, who is running in Germany's September federal election for a second term, enjoyed a warm relationship with former U.S. President George W. Bush, urging him, with some success, to inch toward international consensus on the need to fight climate change.
"Merkel was dealing with a weakened Bush and the Germans felt they could influence him," said John Kornblum, the U.S. ambassador to Germany under President Bill Clinton, who lives in Berlin. "They do not have the same feeling with Obama."
But another analyst said Obama and Merkel admire each other and have a respectful relationship, which the German chancellor is eager to illustrate -- even while disagreeing with U.S. policies -- during her first visit to the Obama White House.
"Obama is the most popular politician in Germany," said Jeremy Shapiro, a foreign policy fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
"She's got to be seen as somebody who's his friend but is also capable of respectfully disagreeing and articulating German positions."
(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell in Washington and Noah Barkin in Berlin)
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