MANAMA, 13 November 2005 — The two-day Forum for the Future to promote US plans for ushering in democracy in the Middle East ended yesterday without adopting a final declaration. The second day of the forum also witnessed sharp US criticism of Syria and a Damascus rejoinder. Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Shara later left Manama without attending a group photo gathering for the participating foreign ministers.
A final declaration could not be adopted because Egypt tried to introduce language which the United States said would restrict aid groups.
“Obviously we are not pleased,” said a senior State Department official at the conclusion of the forum.
The Egyptian delegation was not immediately available for comment but a Gulf diplomat said other Arab countries also had reservations about the document and Egypt was not alone.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice criticized Syria for the “arbitrary detention of human rights activists.” “We would like to see an end to the arbitrary detentions of democratic and human rights activists,” she said adding that the US continues to support the Syrian people’s aspirations for liberty, democracy and justice under the rule of law.
She was earlier quoted telling reporters traveling with her that the Syrians should stop trying to negotiate and cooperate with the UN commission investigating the Feb. 14 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
Shara, who held meetings with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa on the sidelines of the forum, shot back, saying her country was unable to understand the relationship between Syria and Lebanon. “We are for dialogue,” he said.
At a news conference at the conclusion of the forum, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned that it would be a grave mistake for countries in the Middle East to resist reforms because of the assumption that these were American ideas.
“America is a great country, but democracy began in Greece just across the Mediterranean,” Straw pointed out.
Bahrain’s foreign minister, Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmad Al-Khalifa, who co-chaired the forum with Straw, defended the forum and denied it was a tool of US policy to impose change on the region.
He also said unresolved political issues in the region should not be allowed to stand in the way of reforms. He suggested tackling both — reforms and the outstanding political issues — at the same time.
Jordanian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Suhair Al-Ali also defended the fact that reforms in the region were being initiated from within and not being imposed.
“There is no doubt that there are political hindrance to reforms in some of the countries,” she said. “But we cannot allow these obstacles to bar us from moving ahead.”
