[Previous entry: "Bill Moyers Retiring From TV Journalism"] [Next entry: "Palestinian Committee Given Report on Arafat Death"]

12/11/2004:

"Reform Needed in Arab World to Defeat Terror - U.S."

RABAT (Reuters) - Secretary of State Colin Powell on Saturday said Middle Eastern economic and political reform would help defeat terrorism but many Arabs dismissed his call and demanded an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

With continued violence in U.S.-occupied Iraq and the Palestinian question unresolved, the one-day ``Forum for the Future'' conference in Morocco was viewed by many in the Middle East as U.S. meddling even though American officials insist change must come from within the region.

Powell insisted that Washington was committed to working actively with Palestinians and Israelis to solve the conflict but that reforms in the region could not wait.

``Now is not the time to argue about the pace of democratic reform or whether economic reform must precede political reform,'' he told delegates from nearly 30 countries.

``All of us confront the daily threat of terrorism. To defeat the murderous extremists in our midst we must work together to address the causes of despair and frustration that extremists exploit for their own ends,'' he said.

Despite criticism of the meeting about 20 Arab, African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries attended the gathering, along with members of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial states, who launched the idea of promoting reform across the region in June.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, dismissing any ideas of ``clashes of civilizations'' between the Western and Arab worlds, said ``the real bone of contention'' was a perceived bias on the part of the United States toward Israel.

``It remains to be seen if for the first time we can be honest with each other and commit ourselves to ending the Arab-Israeli conflict,'' he told delegates.

...While ministers talked behind closed doors, about 150 human rights activists and Islamists tried to stage a sit-in outside the Foreign Ministry building. The protesters were dispersed by police. There were no incidents.

``The U.S. administration can never bring us a democratic project,'' said Abdlehamid Amine, head of Morocco's main independent humans right group AMDH. ``Look what happened at Abu Ghraib (prison in Iraq), at Guantanamo, Falluja,'' referring to reported abuses by U.S. forces.

Independent Moroccan news magazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire called the meeting's organizers ``delusional'' and branded the forum ``a flop'' even before it took place.
Full Article:nytimes.com