WASHINGTON, June 16: President George Bush announced on Thursday that he was deferring for six months the process of moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In a memorandum for US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bush said the decision was “necessary to protect the national security interests of the United States.”

“My administration remains committed to beginning the process of moving our embassy to Jerusalem,” said the president, who had pledged during the 2000 White House race to support the relocation.

Both Bush and his predecessor, Bill Clinton, have always used the six-month waiver power they have under the 1995 law that calls for the move. —AFP