Abdullah is concerned that if Israel fails to leave the West Bank,
which Palestinians want as part of a future state, Jordan may be
pressed to settle tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees living in
camps scattered across the region, including Syria and Lebanon.

"I know and do appreciate the fears of some of you that plans may
exist to redraw the map of the region and to settle some historic
issues at the expense of Jordan," Abdullah told an impromptu meeting
with members of parliament, Cabinet and former prime ministers before
he left for Russia.

"We are talking about the issue of resettlement and an alternative
(Jordanian) homeland," he said.

Jordan already hosts 1.8 million Palestinian refugees and their
descendants displaced in two wars with Israel since 1948.

The government argues that accepting more refugees may disturb this
country's fragile economy and its demographic balance.

Abdullah's remarks appeared aimed at Jordanians, who become increasingly
suspicious about Israel peace intentions.

Speculation is rife in Jordan and other Arab capitals that Israel,
which has begun withdrawing Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, may
stop at offering any more territory to the Palestinians in the future.

Abdullah urged Jordanians to confront any plan aiming to "deprive
Palestinians of their right to return to their homeland or establish
their independent state on Palestinian soil, and nowhere else."

"If such a plan exists, it is a plot against the Palestinian people
as much as it is a plot against Jordan," he said. "I should not be
alone in confronting such a plot, if it exists."

On Monday, Abdullah told Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in a
telephone call that the Gaza withdrawal was a "positive step and must
be a starting point for pulling out of the West Bank.

"For the first time in 50 years I now feel there is hope that the
Palestinian people will one day be free," said 33-year-old Aqel, one
of around 1.8 million Palestinian refugees living in neighbouring
Jordan.

"It has raised hopes that the time will come when the occupation of
Palestine will end."

Amid the poverty and hopelessness of the squalid camps they inhabit,
even young Palestinians who have never set foot in the holy land
yearn one day to return. Many keep the keys to family homes their
parents and grandparents left behind after the creation of Israel in
1948.

Israel's plans to end a 38-year occupation of Gaza, which it captured
along with the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East war, sparked
jubilation among many of the 4 million Palestinian refugees scattered
in Arab countries.

Chanting "Today Gaza and tomorrow Jerusalem", scores of Palestinian
refugees took to the streets of Lebanon's largest camp, Ain
al-Hilweh, on Monday to celebrate.

Brandishing rifles in the air and performing the traditional dabke
dance, they hailed the evacuation as a step toward their eventual
return to their homes in what is now Israel.

"O God, the withdrawal gives me hope the Israelis may withdraw from
the rest of the Palestinian lands and of our return back to our
original homes," said Yasseen Ibrahim, a baker in the crowded camp on
the outskirts of Amman.

Amer Saleem, a teacher in the same camp, said: "Palestine is our land
and it's our homeland which Israel has to leave sooner or later."

PALESTINIAN VICTORY?

For many of the inhabitants living in makeshift homes with corrugated
iron roofs, the sight of Israeli civilians leaving settlements the
World Court has judged illegal, inspired feelings of nationalist
pride and defiance.

Some said the pullout was a victory for militant groups led by Hamas,
which waged armed attacks against Israeli civilians.

"It is the Israeli blood that was shed that forced (Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel) Sharon to retreat and the more the resistance grows
the more Israelis will leave our occupied land," said Khaled Abu
Natour, a grocer in Jordan's Baqaa camp.

Others are less optimistic. They say a long and bitter conflict lies
ahead and fear Israel will give up Gaza but consolidate its hold on
the West Bank to prevent the emergence of a viable Palestinian state.

"I believe the withdrawal leaves no more than a prison for the people
of Gaza because they have no borders or airport," said Sheikh Ahmad
Abu Sadad, living in the Jordan's Jerash camp.

Refugees also have their own concerns. They fear any future peace
settlement will forego any right of return for millions of
Palestinian refugees to land now inside Israel. They also fear
exclusion from a future Palestinian state.

"I am happy they are leaving, but I will dance in the street only
when Jerusalem is back to us and we are back to it," said Um Nidal, a
mother of 12 living in a camp near Damascus.

"I am willing to give all my sons to the resistance to make this
happen." (Additional reporting by Ali Hashisho in southern Lebanon
and Inal Ersan in Damascus)