Arab states should consider US proposals for democratic reform rather than rejecting them outright, the ruler of Qatar has said. Amir Shaikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani also said on Monday Arabs could no longer use the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and security fears to justify delaying much-needed political, social and economic change. "The calls for reform coming from abroad need reflection by the people of our region before rejecting it... They should be carefully studied so that if it is accepted, it is with confidence and if it is rejected, it is justified," he told the opening session of a conference on democracy and free trade. US President George Bush believes lack of freedom in the Muslim world helps fuel terrorism and has pledged to promote democratic reform. But Saudi Arabia and Egypt, two key US allies, have rejected the US initiative and warned Washington against imposing ready-made recipes.
| ... since everything is just ducky in both countries. |
Arab leaders have complained the initiative does not address the Arab-Israeli conflict, which they see as key to the region's woes.
| Doesn't address the lack of water on the moon, either. Changing the subject's a good way to avoid talking about it. |
Some have also warned the West that free elections might bring Muslim fundamentalists to power.
| But protecting and enforcing individual liberty won't. It'll scare the bejabbers out of them. Their turbans will unravel on the spot. |
"Honesty obliges us to stress that the wrath in our region does not spring only from the Palestinian cause but goes deeper and is due to problems of our own creation that have nothing to do with the outside world - problems that we allowed to grow unremedied and unchecked," Shaikh Hamad said. "For years, loud voices have been coming out from the region... claiming that if popular participation is broadened it would only result in bringing in those who would endanger peace and put an end to security. Yet, the adoption of reforms has always been the right way to stability." Similar calls by the Amir have been ignored by Arab leaders who were irked by the small Gulf state hosting the command centre for the deeply-unpopular US war on Iraq and by Doha's contacts with Israel. |