Arabs rebuff US calls for speedy reforms

With unabated violence in US-occupied Iraq, the inaugural "Forum for the Future" in Morocco was viewed by many in the Middle East as US meddling even though American officials insist change must come from within the region.

Outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington was committed to working actively with Palestinians and Israelis to solve the conflict but that "reform does not have to wait for that."

"We did not overlook some of the challenges that we are all facing in the region and uppermost in that list of challenges is the situation between the Israelis and the Palestinians," he told a news conference at the close of the one-day conference.

"But we cannot ignore the fact that reform has to go on ... A child who is in need of an education and will not be a contributing member of society without that education, needs that education now," he said.

The original US initiative to promote democracy across the Arab world was watered down after an outcry from Arab critics. More emphasis was put on economics and less on political reform.

"Now is not the time to argue about the pace of democratic reform or whether economic reform must precede political reform," Powell 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 it, along with members of the Group of Eight (G8) industrial states.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, dismissing any idea of a "clash of civilizations" between the Western and Arab worlds, said "the real bone of contention" was a perceived Western bias toward Israel.