Jordan's King to ask Bush to defer or cancel trip to Israel

[bemildred]

Jordan's King Abdullah was set to ask U.S. President George W. Bush to postpone or cancel his upcoming trip to Israel, scheduled to coincide with the country's 60th anniversary in May, diplomatic sources in Amman told the London-based Arabic language newspaper al-Hayat Tuesday.

According to the report, Abdullah will advise the American president not to come to Israel unless a real agreement is struck between Israel and the Palestinians, who are in the midst of a U.S.-backed peace process.

The diplomatic sources told al Hayat that Abdullah's position has been adopted by Saudi Arabia and Egypt, who have been holding intensive talks with Abdullah over recent days ahead of the Jordanian king's visit to Washington on Wednesday. Abdullah was planning to travel to Washington for two days. The goal of this trip, sources in Jordan explained, was to assist in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and promote the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit has also visited Washington recently and met with senior U.S. government officials.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/977002.html

[babylonsister]

1. Good. Seems Abdullah realizes *'s real worth. Keep deferring,

and he'll be gone.

[bemildred]

2. Barbara Streisand pulls out of Israel 60th anniversary jubilee

Israel says Barbara Streisand has pulled out of a celebration of the country's 60th anniversary next month.

Streisand was one of the big-name guests slated to appear at a festive Jerusalem convention hosted by President Shimon Peres beginning May 13. The American diva was supposed to perform a rendition of the Hebrew prayer Avinu Malkeinu, or Our Father Our King.

But Peres' office says Streisand has now announced she will not be coming. It says she gave no reason for the sudden cancellation. The anniversary convention's guest list still includes heads of state like U.S. President George W. Bush and technology czars like Google founder Sergey Brin.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/977009.html

[DrDan]

3. shows how much respect they have for junior

if there is no agreement - stay away. He can only screw up any possibility of progress.

[azurnoir]

4. Bush can't/won't help only hinder

so why come except as a photo opt. King Abdullah is correct, unless Bush wants to "appear" to support Israel's current policy of say one thing and do another, OK so we know he does but......