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Berlusconi, right, and Mubarak
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PARIS,
March 5 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Amid a flurry of
Middle East initiatives, France and Germany unveiled a new joint
initiative for reform in the Middle East, stressing that Islam is
compatible with modernity and making the settlement of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict a cornerstone of the new initiative.
It
was revealed ahead of a meeting Friday, March 5, in Paris between
French President Jacques Chirac and his Egyptian counterpart Hosni
Mubarak who renewed his fierce criticism of a U.S. initiative for
reform in “The Greater Middle East”.
The
French-German Initiative - unveiled Thursday, March 4 - distances both
Paris and Berlin from the U.S. reform proposal, which has drawn a
hostile response as it was seen as a high-handed attempt to reshape
the region and serve the interests of Washington and Israel.
The
two heavy-weight EU members has moreover called on the bloc to define
a "distinct approach" which would however be
“complementary to that of the United States,” according to Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
“We
must avoid the trap of a global approach which ignores national
characteristics and stigmatizes Islam as being incompatible with
modernity," Paris and Berlin said in a joint statement Thursday.
The
two European powers plan to reveal the details of the new
Franco-German initiative at a meeting of EU ambassadors next week,
according to French daily Le Monde.
The
announcement comes at a time when several plans aiming to tackle the
various problems in the region using a comprehensive approach having
been floating about, according to Deutsche Welle website.
Most
prominent so far, Washington's Greater Middle East Initiative, which
the Bush administration wants to present at the G8 Summit in June.
The
Franco-German plan emphasizes the importance of working on a
individual, country-by-country basis to bring stability to the region,
according to Le Monde.
Paris
and Berlin stress that "every initiative for the Middle East must
respond to the needs and aspirations of the region," wrote Le
Monde.
The
Franco-German plan might get a better reception among Arab leaders who
said this week they were wary about the Bush administration's
proposal. The over-arching plan wants to address major problems of
unemployment and poverty in a region stretching from North Africa to
Pakistan.
U.S.
President George W. Bush will meet with Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak
in Texas in April to discuss the details of the plan, which will call
on Arab governments to implement significant political changes and
economic reforms, according to reports.
Mubarak
Fury
The
Franco-German plan, judging on the statement released by its sponsors,
appears to support the views of the Egyptian president, one of the US
plan's chief critics.
The
U.S. initiative aims to encourage democratic and economic reform in
the authoritarian Arab world and other Muslim countries in a bid to
deprive “international extremists” of the reservoir of frustration
and poverty they thrive on for support, according to AFP.
Egypt
and Saudi Arabia, which are both allies of the U.S., have criticized
the initiative, fearing Washington wants to impose its own cultural
model on the region.
Mubarak
believes the problems of bringing democracy to a complex region of
diverse but interlinked cultures is fraught with problems.
"The
greater Middle East is a mosaic of peoples, traditions, ways of life
and economies," he told the Italian daily La Repubblica in
an interview Friday.
Citing
the example of Algeria, where a civil war has raged for 12 years after
the army annulled an election won by the Islamic party, Mubarak said:
"Instant freedom and democracy can have a seismic effect on a
country."
“We
will not allow models to be imposed from outside which would drive us
to shipwreck and anarchy."
"We
know our countries better than anyone," added Mubarak, a
prominent member of the 22-state Arab League, which will debate the
initiative at a summit in Tunis later this month.
The
Arab leader - one of the closest U.S. allies in the region - indicated
he would have strong words for U.S. President George W. Bush when he
visits the Bush ranch in Texas for talks on April 12.
"I
will ask him to specify the content of his reforms, which are still
obscure. I will explain to him that without our participation, this
initiative is doomed to failure."
Mubarak
also said he would ask Bush to specify what he means by the concept of
a Greater Middle East "and what it implies".
"I
don't know what he is implying, but I feel something strange. It's a
feeling. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm right. I can't tell you more than
that."
In
Rome, Mubarak seemed to have has notched an important early victory in
his campaign against the embattled U.S. initiative, as Washington ally
Italy said no solution can be imposed on the region from outside.
"The
countries concerned must be directly involved in the evolution of any
initiative concerning the 'Greater Middle East'," Italy's Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi said after meeting Mubarak late Thursday.
Berlusconi's
statement marks a change in the Italian position compared to its
earlier pronouncements.
Foreign
Minister Franco Frattini said Wednesday that Italy subscribed to
Washington's initiative, though he said "the impetus must however
come from the region itself."
