Jordan's king snubs Bush, cancels meeting

Jordan said that the meeting would be put off until the conclusion of current discussions with US officials "to clarify the American position on the peace process and the final situation in the Palestinian territories, especially in light of the latest statements by officials in the American Administration."

After meeting last week with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Bush broke with decades-old US policy and supported Israel's right to keep some settlements in the West Bank. This complicates Palestinian demands that refugees be able to return to homes they abandoned in the years after the Jewish state was founded in 1948. The Times reports that Jordanian officials made clear that King Abdullah had been "irked" by Mr. Bush's declarations in the meeting with Sharon and would therefore bypass Washington.

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The king's meeting with Bush was expected to focus on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the situation in Iraq, and ways to enhance bilateral cooperation, especially in the economic arena, reports The Jordan Times. The Arab League welcomed the cancellation of the meeting, reports United Press International. A high-ranking official reportedly told UPI that "the cancellation of the meeting expresses the state of high anger prevailing in the Arab world over Bush's endorsement of Israeli stances." The official said if King Abdullah had "acted differently, he would have embarrassed the Arab peoples and challenged their national sentiments."

The US sought to play down the snub, reports Reuters. "We understand that there are some domestic issues involved here and we respect King Abdullah's decision to postpone (the meeting) for a couple of weeks," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. The meeting has tentatively been rescheduled for the first week in May. Another Reuters report says that the snub " revealed only a fraction of the humiliation felt by Washington's Arab friends," after Bush's dramatic shift in US policy.

Jordan has allowed thousands of Palestinian refugees into the country since the creation of Israel, and fears an ultimate rejection of the "right of return" for Palestinians will lead to their permanent integration in the kingdom, reports Reuters. Palestinian refugees or their descendants make up the majority of Jordan's 5 million people.

The past few days have seen several challenges to the Bush administration's foreign policy. Hours after Spain's new Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero was sworn in on Sunday, he ordered the withdrawal of the 1,300 Spanish troops from Iraq as soon as possible. Spain has been a key US ally in the war in Iraq and the larger war on terror.

As the The Christian Science Monitor points out, those troops (which account for less than 1 percent of the coalition troops in Iraq) " will scarcely be missed."

However, the Monitor reports, Mr. Zapatero's decision "will kindle new flames of doubt, threatening the coalition as governments rethink their commitment in the light of the flaring violence in Iraq and the country's uncertain future." As an example of this possible domino effect, the report asserts that US hopes of convincing NATO to play a role in southern Iraq appear "dimmed." According to the Monitor report, "further pullouts would have little military impact, but would send politically damaging messages of distrust about how US forces are dealing with the insurgency in Iraq."

Late Monday night Honduran President Ricardo Maduro announced he will also withdraw from Iraq the nearly 370 Honduran soldiers under Spanish command. The Dominican Republic said its 300 troops would remain until August, and El Salvador said its troops would remain in Iraq under Polish command, reports Voice of America.

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• Britain's Muslims fear 'Islamaphobia' ( MSNBC)
• Woodward, White House, Saudis: No election deal on oil ( CNN)
• Prayers and gunfire from Sadr's men in black ( The Independent)
• Saudis deny oil prices tied to US vote ( AP/Washington Post)

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