"Just hinting to the Islamists is enough to scare off the U.S. and Europe and prompt a second reading of their plans," said Eisa

By Abdul Rahim Ali, IOL Staff

CAIRO, May 30 (IslamOnline.net) – The U.S. has scaled back its controversial "Greater Middle East Initiative", which preaches democracy in the region, for fear that reforms and democratic elections would probably bring "Islamists" to the helm of power in several countries, Arab experts have said.

The administration of U.S. President George W. Bush has bowed to a torrent of criticism from Arab countries and given up intense pressures to slam-dunk its reform recipe to head off an Islamic rule.

"The U.S. and Arab regimes have reached a compromise that encourages these regimes to crack down on the Islamic movements in return for abandoning reform pressures," Abdullah Al-Suhir, professor of international relations in Kuwait University, told IslamOnline.net.

"The U.S. is gripped by fear that the Greater Middle East will at the end of the day bring the Islamists, whether moderate or extremist, to power."

Mohammad Kamal, member of the Policies Committee of Egypt's ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), said the U.S. reform vision will see dramatic changes during the G8 Summit, to be hosted by U.S. state of Georgia on June 9.

Press reports said that Washington has already re-named its reform plan from the "Greater Middle East" to "The Broader Middle East and North Africa".

The new proposal, due to be unveiled during the G8 summit, will stress that reform should come from within and should not be imposed from the outside.

It also calls for respecting the characteristics and traditions of each country when it comes to political and social reform.

The initiative’s architects claim the project aims to encourage democratic reform and economic opening in the Arab world and other Muslim countries with an eye toward abating the frustration and poverty on which international terrorism thrives.

Those accepting the reforms will receive lucrative financial support and preferential treatment from Washington and its main western allies.

Abating Pressures

Salah Eisa, editor-in-chief of Egypt’s Al-Qahira (Cairo) weekly, said that the U.S. reform pressures on the Arab world have considerably abated following talks between Bush and Arab leaders.

"The U.S. policy shift is undoubtedly due to warnings of Arab leaders that any radical reforms would help the Islamists assume power, a nightmare for both the Americans and Europeans alike," he told.

Egypt’s Hosni Mubarak warned last March during his multi-leg European tour that any ill-advised democratic reforms in the Middle East would trigger a spree of violence like the deadly incidents that took place in Algeria in early 1990s.

He said Egypt will not adopt any reform formulae that carry the risk of destabilizing the country.

Eisa said that just hinting to the Islamists is enough to scare off the U.S. and Europe and prompt a second reading of their plans.

On Tuesday, May 18, Egyptian experts said the arrest of 54 members of the banned but tolerated Muslim Brotherhood by Egyptian authorities was designed to bracket the opposition group with terrorism.

In its report released on Thursday, April 20, the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) said the Egyptian government should involve Islamists in politics.

"Unless the Egyptian government changes its approach, opens up the political field and undertakes serious political reform, the frustration which many Egyptians feel could lead to a recrudescence of violent activism at some stage," cautioned the independent group.

Heavy weights Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who had rebuffed the U.S. recipe, have turned down a U.S. invitation to attend the G8 summit.

The White House last week said Bush had also invited the leaders of Afghanistan, Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, Algeria, Tunisia and Qatar.