Obama to host Palestinian president on March 17

U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House on March 17, the White House said Thursday.

Obama looks forward to reviewing with Abbas the progress in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a statement.

"They will also discuss our continuing effort to work cooperatively to strengthen the institutions that can support the establishment of a Palestinian state," Carney said.

On March 3, Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday that the ongoing peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians will likely proceed beyond the original deadline of April.

Kerry had aimed for a deal on all the final-status issues -- security, border, the status of Jerusalem and refugees, within nine months when he brought back the two sides for fresh negotiations in late July last year.

However, no visible progress has been made so far as the parties have been wrangling over settlement building on the occupied land, security arrangements and other issues.