President Obama will get his much-sought photo opportunity with two Middle Eastern leaders when he makes his UN debut this week — but he will spend the rest of the time avoiding two others.

The White House has announced that Mr Obama will host a meeting of Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, and Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, tomorrow as he makes his first appearance at the annual UN General Assembly session.

Mr Obama is performing a carefully choreographed diplomatic dance. American diplomats have been busy behind the scenes trying to ensure that his star turn on the world stage is not marred by any uncomfortable encounters with the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, or President Ahmadinejad of Iran.

Mr Obama is due to deliver his maiden address to the 192-nation General Assembly on Wednesday morning — immediately before Colonel Gaddafi. He is expected to proclaim Washington’s full engagement with the UN after eight years of the internationally unpopular Bush Administration.

Susan Rice, his UN Ambassador, has summed up the speech thus: “Everybody has a responsibility. The US is leading anew, and we’re looking to others to join.”

America’s first black President — who plans to host a first luncheon for black African leaders — has celebrity status at the United Nations. He is likely to receive a standing ovation from delegates, in sharp contrast to Mr Bush, who used to refer to his stony-faced reception as a visit to the “wax museum”.

Before making his address, Mr Obama will hold a pro-forma meeting with Ali Treiki, the former Libyan Foreign Minister, who is this year’s General Assembly president.

US diplomats, however, have been consulting UN protocol officers on ways to ensure that Mr Obama — who strongly criticised Britain’s release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the convicted Lockerbie bomber — does not cross paths with Colonel Gaddafi in the General Assembly chamber. Plans are afoot for separate entrances and exits from the podium.

Mr Obama will find it harder to avoid an embarrassing handshake with Colonel Gaddafi when he becomes the first US President to chair the 15-nation UN Security Council for a special session on nuclear non-proliferation on Thursday.

They will sit just a few feet away from each other around the table — along with Gordon Brown.

This week’s session is one of the busiest in years because many leaders are travelling through New York on their way to the G20 summit in Pittsburgh on Thursday afternoon and Friday.

In one day, the General Assembly will hear not only Mr Obama and Colonel Gaddafi, but also the maiden speeches of President Medvedev of Russia and President Hu of China, as well as Mr Brown, President Sarkozy, and Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister of Italy, and Mr Ahmadinejad, among others.

The formal General Assembly session is preceded on Tuesday by a climate change summit aimed at helping to “seal the deal” on reductions in greenhouse gas emissions at a crucial Copenhagen conference in December. Mr Obama will address the climate change meeting too.

The three-way meeting of the US, Palestinian and Israeli leaders is intended to relaunch the Middle East peace process, but expectations are low.

Western powers are also seeking Russian and Chinese backing for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme.

Foreign ministers of the six-power grouping known as the “G3+3” — Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia and the United States — are due to have dinner to discuss planned talks with Iran on October 1.

Mr Ahmadinejad is making his first trip to the UN since his disputed re-election in June, and arrives in New York only days after dismissing the Nazi Holocaust as “mythical”.

Iranian exiles plan to demonstrate outside the UN, and the Helmsley Hotel cancelled a booking for a banquet after learning that Mr Ahmadinejad was to be the guest of honour.

Mr Netanyahu faces the awkward prospect of sitting only two seats away from Mr Ahmadinejad in the General Assembly Hall if both watch the Obama speech.

Because of the UN’s alphabetical seating, Israel is separated from Iran only by Ireland and Iraq.

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