Jordan's King Abdullah on Sunday called off what would have been a rare visit to the West Bank, citing bad weather, but will reschedule in coming days, an aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said.

Journalists had been waiting for nearly five hours for the king's arrival at Abbas' headquarters in Ramallah. One Jordanian helicopter delivered an advance team of journalists and royal aides, but the monarch never arrived.

"Because of the bad weather, the visit was postponed for a few days," said Nabil Abu Rdeneh, the Abbas aide.

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Nasser Judeh, a Jordanian government spokesman, had said on Friday that Abdullah's plans to hold talks with Abbas in Ramallah came within the framework of His Majesty's efforts to activate the peace process by direct contacts with the concerned parties.

Judeh said the visit reflects the king's continuous and well known position and efforts to push all the sides to the negotiation table and his full support for the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Abdullah has visited Ramallah once before, a brief stopover to see
then-Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2000, soon after Abdullah ascended to the throne. In 1999, he visited Arafat in the Gaza Strip.