Washington - US president-elect Barack Obama and his former opponent, Senator John McCain, met on Monday for the first time since the election, pledging to work together to meet the country's challenges.

Obama hosted McCain at his transition team headquarters in Chicago to have a "good conversation about how we can work together to fix up the country," the president-elect said.

Obama soundly defeated McCain on November 4. McCain telephoned Obama to concede that night, but the two had not met since. McCain will continue to represent his home state of Arizona in the Senate.

The two sat in adjacent chairs during a brief appearance for photographers and McCain did not address the media. Obama said he also wanted to thank the senator for "the outstanding service he's already rendered."