JEDDAH, 30 January 2003 — Hady A. Amr, an Arab-American political consultant and economist, said it was the US administration and not the American people who shaped US foreign policy and who should be lobbied.

"The American people do not shape the country’s policy, but 10 to 20 thousand key people who occupy six important categories of the policy influencing machinery do," he told a meeting of the Institution of Business Administration here on Tuesday.

"Ninety percent of Americans are good," Amr added. "It’s the remaining 10 percent who influence the policy makers who need to be approached and handled."

"There are 200 countries asking for US attention to various problems. So you need to make your voice heard. And you can do that by greater interaction, investment and involvement among US policy makers," said Lebanon-born Amr, a Democrat and former national director for Ethnic Outreach for Al Gore’s presidential campaign and World Bank economist with extensive experience in the Arab world.

"It’s unfortunate the Arab voice is missing in the United States. You must shed the fear complex and penetrate into the area of policy makers," he said when asked how Arabs or Muslims could approach the US system when fingerprinting and other obstacles made it difficult for them to enter the country.

"Work through the people in the United States that understand the system. Such people include key non-governmental organizations, the business community, politicians and the media, both print and visual."

Access to the media had become easier due to the Internet, he stressed. "Make a point of writing to the editors of leading newspapers at least once a week. Forget the cultural barrier and just concentrate on fixing the problem."

He pointed out that Japan, Korea, Mexico and some other countries had been following the process for 50 years.

Amr said he was pursuing the cause of Arab Americans and Muslim Americans.

"I write to the media and my viewpoints get published. Congressmen read five major US papers. They have their websites. Even a small involvement of a person can help change the process."

He emphasized that Arabs and Muslims were part of American society.

Before 9/11, the three million Arab Americans, who constitute one percent of the US population, experienced no problems in their relationship with other Americans, he said.

Amr left for Syria yesterday after a five-day visit to the Kingdom, during which he visited Riyadh, Eastern Province and Jeddah.