Jordan's king postpones Bush meeting

Jordan's King Abdullah postponed a meeting with President Bush scheduled for tomorrow after citing concerns about Washington'…

Jordan's King Abdullah postponed a meeting with President Bush scheduled for tomorrow after citing concerns about Washington's position on the Middle East peace process.

The move comes less than one week after President Bush outraged Palestinians by saying Israel could keep some of the Arab land it captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

King Abdullah's meeting with President Bush has tentatively been rescheduled for the first week of May, US and Jordanian officials said.

Last week Jordan criticised Washington for backing Israeli plans to keep parts of the occupied West Bank before a final Arab-Israeli peace accord was reached by the parties to the conflict.

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President Bush, with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at his side, also dismissed the right of Palestinian refugees to return to what is now Israel.

Jordan, which has hosted waves of Palestinian refugees since the creation of Israel in 1948, fears the rejection of the right of refugees to return will pave the way for their permanent integration in the kingdom.

The majority of Jordan's five million population are Palestinian refugees and their descendants.