Obama meets Napolitano after talks with pope

US president set to have talks with Napolitano, Renzi

(ANSA) - Vatican City, March 27 - United States President Barack Obama arrived at the presidential palace in Rome on Thursday for talks with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano after a 50-minute private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican.

The talks will be followed by lunch at the Quirinale palace and Obama will then meet Premier Matteo Renzi at the Renaissance-built Villa Madama, where Italy often receives international guests. It is the fifth meeting between the two presidents, after one in Rome and three in Washington DC. The two are known to have a cordial relationship, with the White House calling Napolitano ''a good friend''. Before the meeting with the pope, Obama told Italian daily Corriere della Sera that he would illustrate to the pope "the initiatives that we are taking to create jobs, increase salaries and overall incomes and help families to keep going". Francis has won plaudits for his simple, humble style and his focus on the poorest and weakest since being elected the head of the Catholic Church last year. Obama landed in Rome late on Wednesday and spent the night at the 15th-century Villa Taverna, the residence of US Ambassador John R. Phillips.