After Arafat-Powell talks fail, Egypt cancels Mubarak-Powell meeting

The meeting due between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and US Secretary of State Colin Powell has been cancelled.

Egyptian presidential sources told AFP Powell would instead meet with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher.

They gave no reason for the cancellation Wednesday.

The presidential sources announced the move after a top Palestinian official was quoted as saying Powell's talks with Yasser Arafat earlier Wednesday in the West Bank town of Ramallah were a "catastrophe."

At a press conference in Jerusalem shortly before he was due to travel to Egypt, Powell said the meeting with the Egyptian president could not take place because Mubarak was "indisposed."

US officials in the region said that the meeting was called off because they had heard Mubarak was "sick," but no independent confirmation was immediately available.