Ain-Al-Yaqeen - March 12, 2004

		March 12, 2004

FINAL STATEMENT OF THE ARAB FOREIGN MINISTERS MEETING IN CAIRO.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE US ADMINISTRATION AND EUROPE'S VIEWS CONCERNING REFORM IN THE MIDDLE EAST.
PRESIDENT CHIRAC: WE SAY YES FOR MODERNIZATION AND NO FOR INTERFERENCE.
PRESIDENT MUBARAK WARNS FROM THE DANGERS OF HURRIEDLY ADOPTING THE U.S. PLAN, AND EMPHASIZES THAT IT MAY RESULT IN THRUSTING THE REGION INTO A CYCLE OF VIOLENCE AND CHAOS.
THE BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: I REJECT ENTIRELY THE MYTH THAT ISLAM IS IN ITS VERY NATURE INCOMPATIBLE WITH CHANGE.

Arab Foreign Ministers agreed to submit proposals on democratic reforms in the Arab world to the Tunis-hosted summit expected to be held later this month.

Ending their 121st regular session, the ministers agreed that draft resolutions proposed by Egypt and Jordan on reforms in the Arab world be brought before the next summit of the Arab leaders, stressing joint Arab action to enhance reform process in the region.

The proposals stress Arab countries' keenness on continuing the democratic reform process by expanding the base of public participation and freedom of expression.

The Egyptian and Jordanian draft laws include several points that stress the will of Arab countries to continue reforms and development process with the participation and efforts of enlightened popular organizations and enlarging public participation and freedom of expression.

They also include cooperation with friendly countries willing to interact on a basis of equality and not impose a certain model.

They also emphasize the availability of the conditions for success and reform which need justice, as well as obliterating feelings of depression by resolving the Palestinian issue and ending the Israeli occupation, resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict according to the Arab peace initiative, and respecting the sovereignty of nations.

The ministers also prepared the draft agenda for the Arab summit which included several topics such as the Arab league development document, reforming the joint Arab action organization.

The agenda also includes handling International ideas on the future of the Middle East, the developments in Iraq, the Palestinian issue, the Arab peace initiative, the economic file on developing the Economic and Social Council, and the issue of the three UAE islands occupied by Iran.

On developments in Iraq, the council condemned the recent terrorist bombings on A'shura and welcomed the ratification of the transitional state administration law.

The council called upon Arab countries to assist Iraq and stand in the face of attempts to spread ethnic sedition, affirmed the unity of Iraq and its people, as well as respecting its sovereignty and independence and non-interference with its internal affairs.

The council also condemned the human rights violations that took place during the invasion of Kuwait and suppressing truths on Kuwaiti POWs and missing whose remains were identified in mass graves, as well as bringing to trial before Iraqi courts members of the deposed Iraqi regime for crimes against the Iraqi people and humanity and deny them safe haven.

On the Arab peace initiative and developments of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the ministers stressed necessity to activate the initiative which was endorsed during the Arab leaders' summit of Beirut in 2002 and the revival of the comprehensive peace process in the region.

They called on the world community to put a mechanism for implementation of security council resolutions regarding Syrian, Lebanese and Palestinian peace tracks.

The ministers called on the United States to activate the road map, warning of grave consequences for Israel's continuous construction of the segregation wall which is ''aimed at aborting peaceful solution of the Palestinian issue.''

The Arab ministers called on the international community to help provide international protection for the Palestinian people and set free Palestinian detainees in Israel and force it lift its siege of the Palestinian people.

They stressed that Al Quds was part of the occupied Arab territories of 1967, denouncing Israel's policies to Judaize the Arab city.

The officials stressed necessity to hold on to the Palestinian refugees' right for return to their homeland, and stressed commitment to financial support for the Palestinian authority, totalling 55 million US dollars per month which was endorsed by Arab leaders.

They have also voiced support for Syria's just right in the re-gaining of the Golan heights, denouncing the Israeli aggression on Syrian territories last October.

The ministers stressed full support for United Arab Emirates' sovereignty over three islands occupied by Iran, supporting all UAE peaceful measures to regain its authority on the islands.

They expressed solidarity with Sudan and keenness on its territorial integrity, voicing support to efforts aimed at establishing peace and realising national conciliation in the Arab country.

They have also voiced support for Somalia's territorial unity and sovereignty, affirming commitment to Security Council resolutions banning export of arms to Somalia.

On developments of the Arab Social and Economic Council, the ministers asked the Arab League Secretary General Amre Mousa to present his report before the Tunis summit.

The ministers have also discussed the Israeli nuclear and weapons of mass destruction, stressing importance of intensive Arab participation in preparatory meetings of signatory states of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty due in New York next April.

The foreign ministers stressed importance of making the Middle East a region free of weapons of mass destruction, and called on Arab countries to sign the Arab agreement to fight terrorism, renewing denunciation of all forms of terrorism.

Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Cairo have ‏ approved resolutions on developing the Arab League (AL) to be ‏submitted to the Arab summit scheduled in Tunis.‏ ‏

Moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Muhammed Ben Issa announced at the ‏conclusion of the 121 session of the Arab Foreign Ministers council ‏that the officials made headways in the talks on restructuring the ‏league.‏

‏ He added that they discussed Arab countries' commitment to pay their shares ‏ to the league's budget.‏ ‏

The ministers discussed many issues during their deliberations, including ‏ peace initiatives and the future of the Middle East.‏ ‏

Meanwhile, Secretary General of the Arab League Amre Mousa said that all Arab Leagues' current ‏ meetings prepare for the upcoming Arab Summit in Tunis.

On the other hand the French President Jacque Chirac and the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stressed their support for the modernization of the Arab states under the condition that the modernization not to be imposed from outside.

President Chirac said following talks with President Mubarak at the Elysee palace that lasted for one hour "we support modernization through consultation and cooperation among countries." He added "on the other hand" we do believe that it is impossible to impose any thing.. In another way, we say yes for modernization and no for interference."

The French and the Egyptian Presidents said that launching the peace process between the Israelis and the Palestinians and the stability of Iraq are "introductions" for any reform in the Middle East.

The Egyptian President who was carrying out a European tour including Rome, Paris and London have got the consent of the Italian Prime Minister Selvio Berlusconi for the Egyptian position which has reservation over the American plan.

In a statement after meeting with Mubarak he said that "the Arab states would take part in laying any initiative concerning the Middle East."

The Egyptian President had warned the US from imposing a ready-made settlement on the Middle East as whole. He also warned against marginizing the Arab- Israeli conflict, as he led the Arab states opposition for the project.

President Mubarak, said in an interview with the " Italian daily La Republica that he will ask the US President George W. Bush during their meeting to clarify the content of these reforms which are still vague.

American officials said they want to disclose the plan officially in June when leaders of the 8 industrial major states hold their annual summit. No Arab states will be attending this summit.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met with ‏ his Italian counterpart Carlo Azeglio Ciampi and the Vatican Pope before ‏departing to resume his tour to Paris, within the framework of a mission aimed ‏ at consulting with European leaders over current issues and the future of the ‏ ‏Middle East.‏ ‏

Ciampi received Mubarak in Quirinale Palace this morning, where they ‏resumed bilateral consultations which the Egyptian President began with ‏Berlusconi over the Arab-Western relations, the peace process in ‏ ‏the Middle East and the situation in Iraq, as well as political reforms, ‏ ‏envisioned in the US-proposed Greater Middle East.‏ ‏

Upon concluding his meeting with Ciampi, President Mubarak confirmed the importance ‏of the role the EU can play in supporting the political reforms to be ‏ conducted in Egypt.‏ ‏

He explained his point of view concerning the U.S. proposed ideas to adopt democracy in the Middle East in an interview with "La Repubblica" newspaper.‏ ‏

President Mubarak warned from the dangers of hurriedly adopting the U.S. plan, emphasizing that it may result in thrusting the region into a cycle of violence and chaos, describing the plan as "very important".‏ ‏

Mubarak praised the current relations between the Arab world and the EU, stressing that the political reforms are not enough to solve the conflict in the Middle East.

French President Jacques Chirac backed the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in his opposition to the US initiative for political and economic reform in the Middle East, saying the plan amounted to "interference".

The US plan aims to encourage democratic and economic reform in the 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.

The Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi also agreed that no solution could 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'," Berlusconi said after meeting Mubarak.

Berlusconi's statement marks a change in the Italian position compared to its earlier pronouncements. The Egyptian leader continued his campaign against the US plan by visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London.

Chirac and Mubarak agreed that any plan to "modernize" the Middle East should follow a relaunching of the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians and stability in Iraq.

"We think - and it is also the feeling of President Mubarak, that we are on the same track, that all development, all modernization in this region depends on a resolution of the problem of finding peace between the Palestinian and Israeli people," said Chirac.

"All the same we think it is urgent to find a solution to the problem of Iraq that allows the re-establishment of peace and stability in maintaining unity in Iraq," he said, adding that "these are the "prerequisites."

The Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak met last Sunday with ‏ British Minister Tony Blair at his country residence in Chequers, south ‏ ‏England, as a part of his current visit to Britain.‏ ‏

A Downing Street spokesman said that the two leaders held closed-doors ‏talks, with no officials present, focused on bilateral relations, ‏ ‏Middle East peace process and political reform in the region.‏ ‏

The meeting came ahead of the visit to London of the Palestinian ‏ ‏Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei, who is expected to be calling the Britons to take a step to revive the stalled Middle East peace process.‏

‏The spokesman said that the two leaders last met at Red Sea resort Sharm ‏el-Sheikh at the New Year. He pointed out that they remain in regular touch by ‏telephone to exchange their views over Arabic and international issues.

President Hosni Mubarak returned home last night after a successful European tour which he concluded by a meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at his rural residence in Kent, outside London.

President Mubarak and Prime Minister Tony Blair reviewed hot issues in the region, mainly the situation in the Palestinian territories and Iraq and reform initiatives.

Mubarak and Blair discussed ways of bringing the peace process between the Palestinians and Israel back to track, restoring security and stability to Iraq and the Egyptian and Arab vision of reform in the region far from any foreign interference.

Minister of Information Safwat Al-Sherif described President Mubarak's talks with Blair as extremely important that complemented Mubarak's talks in Italy and France, given the fact that the European tour came prior to the Arab summit which will be held in Tunis late this month and the industrialized countries summit.

He said President Mubarak's visit to Britain dealt with the need for providing a favorable climate conducive to resuming the peace process in the light of the unilateral Israeli decision to withdraw from Gaza.

The Iraqi issue dominated Mubarak-Blair talks as it is related to stability in the region and reform initiatives currently raised.

The summit also tackled the Egyptian initiative for modernization in the Arab world Al-Sherif said adding that the President believes that modernization and development initiatives should emanate from inside the region.

President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt will be the ‏ guest of President George W. Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas on April 12, ‏ ‏White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced.‏ ‏

In a statement last week, McClellan said the President looked forward to ‏ discussing with President Mubarak "a wide range of bilateral and regional issues, including our common efforts to combat terrorism in the region and the world."‏ ‏

They would also discuss "Our shared goal to se the spread of freedom and ‏prosperity throughout the Middle East region, and our efforts to achieve a ‏lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians."

The Bush administration's efforts to support freedom, democracy, and reform in the greater Middle East will be driven by ideas originating within the countries of the region, says Marc Grossman, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs.

"This is not about the United States or Europe or anyone else imposing reform on people," he told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels March 5. He also emphasized that the United States realizes the region is diverse and its people "will pursue reform and change at a pace that is good for them and their societies."

Grossman had spent the week listening to and consulting with government and community leaders in Morocco, Egypt, Bahrain and Jordan before arriving in Brussels to discuss regional issues with members of the North Atlantic Council.

Although any roles NATO might undertake in the greater Middle East are still under discussion, Grossman suggested the Alliance's civil emergency planning expertise could be used to assist countries in the area with earthquake or other natural disasters. NATO military expertise might also prove useful for border security or trafficking issues, he added.

These and other ideas will be discussed further at the NATO Summit in Istanbul, Grossman said, as well as at the G-8 meeting in the United States and the U.S.-E.U. Summit in Dublin. All three events occur in June.

In response to a reporter's question, the under secretary said that support for reform in the region is "not a substitute in any way for our interest in the Middle East peace process." However, Grossman said, "You can't wait until there is complete peace in order to promote reform. So it's not a substitute, but it's not an excuse for doing nothing either."

Grossman said in each of the countries we visited we had a chance to meet with representatives of governments and also with civil society, and we appreciated all of the time people spent with us.

The effort that I am making is to try to explain and promote an idea that President Bush has, that we ought to be able to position the United States in support of those people in the region who are interested in reform and interested in democracy and interested in freedom. So I was taking the opportunity to listen to views and to consult with governments and members of civil society and also to explain the American position.

I found in the Middle East a great interest -- and a great conversation -- in reform. I found people referring to the Declarations last year in Aqaba and this year in Sanaa. I found people referring to the work of the Arab Business Council and looking forward to the very important meeting of the Alexandria Library in the middle of the month. And I heard all around the recognition that reform was a very important part of both a government agenda in the Middle East and also the agenda of civil society.

We tried our very best to say that, from our perspective, there are things that were very important. First, that the best ideas will come from the region. That this is not about the United States or Europe or anyone else imposing reform on people. The best ideas will come from the region.

Second, that all of the countries in the region are different.

Third, that people will pursue reform and change at a pace that is good for them and their societies and that we, as our President said, are patient about this.

Finally, that we want to look forward to supporting this kind of reform.

I was also greatly benefited in my visit to the Middle East to have public support for reform from people like the Foreign Minister of Germany, Foreign Minister Fischer, who spoke in Wehrkunde about his views; the Foreign Minister of France, who talked about the need for a serious partnership with the Middle East; statements from the government of Italy; the joint statement of Chancellor Schroeder and President Bush. So all of those allowed me to say that we were not alone in this desire to support reform in the Middle East.

This morning at the North Atlantic Council I gave a report on my trip. I talked about these principles that seem important to us. I talked about some of the ways that we might move forward.

I report to you that I found a very positive response. This issue of supporting reform is clearly on the agenda in the trans-Atlantic relationship. I was very grateful for the ideas and the points that people made, and I will obviously take them back to Washington.

I would say to you that NATO is going to be part of this conversation about change in the Middle East and that NATO has something very important to offer. How this will come out specifically is for the Council to decide. There are still some discussions to be had. But I feel in finishing this morning that there are some very important opportunities there for NATO and for other organizations and institutions to support reform from the region.

Grossman said we have been involved for some years in what we call the Middle East Partnership Initiative. The Middle East Partnership Initiative is designed to work with both governments and with civil society in very practical ways to promote more democracy and freedom.

For example, we have programs that try to support non-governmental organizations. We have programs that support the empowerment of women. We have programs that try to help parliamentarians meet their responsibilities. We have all these kinds of programs that are very practical and very focused and very much designed to promote democracy, and in each country that I visited we are supporting those kinds of programs and we look forward to supporting even more of them -- not just in these countries but in others that would be interested as well.

Answering a question about the plans going around, Grossman said, I think there are two things that are worth saying here. First, that because there are all these plans, it seems to me that it s very clear that this issue -- how to support reform in the area -- is on the agenda. It's on everybody's agenda. And the fact that there are all these plans seems to me a huge advantage. I don t worry about it. I think it s a positive.

Second, it seems to me that, practically, going forward there are two ways to proceed. One is that there are going to be bilateral and multilateral initiatives in the region. So if France and Germany, if other countries wish to pursue their own bilateral interests in the region like we do with the Middle East Partnership Initiative, I think that s excellent.

But there s also a chance over the next few months to see if we can t find some way to use the comparative advantage, of the G-8 meeting in June, of the U.S.-E.U. Summit also in June, and very importantly, the NATO Summit coming in Istanbul. Each of those meetings will have a separate role to play. Each might have some ideas to contribute.

So if we can all work together here and promote the ideas for reform in the region, and then, if we re lucky, when we get together at the G-8 or in Dublin or in Istanbul, these organizations and groups would be able to respond to the calls for reform in the region.

On expectations about the role NATO could play, Under Secretary Grossman said: Two things. First, NATO of course is already involved with the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue. That dialogue is a very important part of the business of this alliance. The United States supported that dialogue when it was created, we support it today and we're going to support it in the future. We think, in fact, it ought to be made more energetic and that there are more things that can be done with the NATO-Mediterranean Dialogue. So NATO is already involved in this.

Second, and again this has to be discussed and I do not say to you that there is consensus on this. I say there is a discussion on this. Why not look to a day when NATO might be able to offer expertise to countries in the region? For example, there was just a terrible earthquake in Morocco. Why not think about a day when NATO with its civil emergency planning expertise might be able to work with a country like Morocco? Why not think about a time when NATO could offer some interest in border security for example? Why not think about a day -- when we're so focused, as NATO is yesterday and today on trafficking in persons --why couldn't NATO be involved in some fashion with talking to countries about trafficking? Whether it's trafficking in persons, trafficking in narcotics, trafficking in drugs, trafficking in weapons of mass destruction. So I think there are ways for NATO to be involved.

The third thing I would say, I apologize, I said there were two, there are really three. The third thing I would say is we want to go forward with supporting ideas for reform -- economic reform, political reform, educational reform, empowerment of women in the Middle East. But all of those things will be so much more successful if there is also security, and I think NATO has some role to play in that.

I want to be clear. NATO is a military alliance. NATO does what it does. So I'm not saying that all of these things are NATO's job. I'm saying that NATO has a job to do and we look forward to reaching consensus on what that might be over the next few weeks.

Answering a question on the Middle East problem, and that all Arab countries and a lot of Europeans believe that without peace solution, a lot of reforms still to be blocked.

Under Secretary Grossman said one of the things that I said, sir, in all of my stops in the Middle East, and I said in the North Atlantic Council and I will say here to you, is that no one should believe that our idea to support reform in the Middle East is a substitute in any way, not a substitute in any way, for our interest in the Middle East peace process. We are at work on this every day. We work on it with the parties. We work on it with the Quartet. We're going to continue to work on this. So these ideas about reform and these ideas about supporting reform are not a substitute for work on the Middle East Peace Process.

He added I would say, also the reverse is truewe need to recognize that these things are out there together, that you can t wait until there's a complete peace in order to promote reform. So it's not a substitute, but it's not an excuse for doing nothing either.

In London Foreign and Commonwealth Secretary Jack Straw delivered a speech on Partnerships For Reform In The Arab World at The Foreign Policy Centre.

Following is the text of Jack Straw's speech:

It's a great honour for me to open this first conference of the Civility Programme.

I want to talk today about why modernisation and reform in the Arab world matters to Britain and to the whole international community. I do so with some humility. It is not for me or for any Foreign Minister from outside the region to lay down prescriptions. That would neither be right, nor productive, nor would it show respect. I am therefore fully conscious of the sensitivities of this issue. But we are bound to take an interest in the matter, given that Europe and the Arab world are neighbours, and our interests in many areas, such as our economies and our security, are international and inter-dependent.

So I want today to try to correct some of the misperceptions that surround this complex subject; and to stress the importance of our relations with the Arab World, and of the need to build a partnership to address this shared agenda, working with the processes of change already underway. By partnership I mean one across government, among the international community, and, most important of all, partnership with Arab governments and peoples themselves.

The world is changing more quickly than at any time in its history. As Arab leaders themselves have recognised, the challenge, in the Arab world as elsewhere, is to manage change in a way which preserves the best in society, gives ordinary people ever-greater freedom and choice while protecting them from violence and injustice.

It is the people of the Arab world who are best placed to understand the challenges they face, and to decide how best to deal with them. The ideas must come from our Arab friends. We in Europe or the West cannot and must not dictate to them; but we can, and will, work with them to support and nurture reform.

The Arab World now matters more than ever

So we in Britain, and in Europe, want the Arab world to be stable and prosperous. As many in the region recognise, if it falls behind the global trend towards greater freedoms and development its stability and prosperity will be under threat. The challenges differ from country to country across the region - but there are worrying common threads.

Regional economic growth is failing to keep pace with a growing population. In some countries, 60 per cent of the population is under 18 years of age. Youth unemployment averages over 50 per cent: according to the World Bank, the region needs to create 100 million jobs over the next 20 years to provide for this burgeoning workforce.

The last decades have seen the spread of representative and accountable government in many parts of the world, but less so in the Middle East. In some Arab countries, women are prevented from realising their potential in society - which means that fully half of the population is unable to play its part in economic growth and social development. Despite impressive gains over the last decades, literacy rates in some countries are now falling, and fast-growing populations are straining public services.

Many in the region realise the extent of these challenges and are working for reform so that they can be addressed more effectively. Many governments have already taken important steps on economic, social and political reform, and others are following. And as we heard in the introduction, it was Arab intellectuals who set out the challenges facing the region in the Arab Human Development Report of 2002, and the follow-up report published last year. The Declaration issued by the Sana'a Conference on 12 January was a further important contribution to the debate, calling among other things for greater empowerment for women, a strengthening of democracy and pluralism, the effective application of the rule of law and greater efforts to improve education.

I welcome all of that. But as many in the region recognise, much more needs to be done - and with a sense of urgency. Governments and peoples are talking about the need for more open, participative and representative government supported by a stronger civil society; for action to make the rule of law effective and transparent; for greater respect for human rights; for economic reform to create jobs and stimulate growth; for improved standards of education, in order to prepare young people for life and work in the twenty-first century; and for imaginative changes to enable women really to fulfil their potential in society.

No-one imagines this will be either quick or simple. As I said at the outset of this speech, we in Europe should always show some humility about the pace of change; after all, representative government is a very recent phenomenon in 11 of the 25 EU states, and the whole of our continent suffered the twin traumas of fascism and communism in the last century. It is not for us to preach.

It is for the Arab world itself to decide how best it can pursue a process of reform, development and modernisation. There is no template which fits each of the different countries in the region. The task for us in Britain and in the international community is to help to support it, drawing on our own experience of change - because we too have a vital interest in its success.

We need to recognise that this is a complex and sensitive subject. The pace of change is going to vary between different countries and regions, as it has in the EU. Change may be necessary, but it is never easy, and it can be seen as a threat to deeply-held beliefs and traditions. Moreover, history has left some in the Arab world with a perhaps understandable distrust of Western motives.

All that means that we must start by correcting some of the misperceptions and myths which have arisen, both in the Arab world and elsewhere, around this subject. Of course these misperceptions are by no means universal - but they do need correcting, so as not to become obstacles on the path to reform.

The first myth is that Islam is in its very nature incompatible with change. I reject that notion entirely. It seems to me that resistance to change comes not from Islam itself, but from those who claim religious justification for clinging to outmoded traditions. Christian societies in the West had to evolve in order to meet the challenges and problems that arose in a changing world. The moderate Islamic community has shown the same capacity to let society evolve. By contrast, extremism in any religion is not only a block on necessary change; it also feeds off those who are marginalised in society, to breed intolerance and resentment which in its turn can fuel violence. Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Algeria and Morocco have suffered, at least as much as some European countries, at the hands of terrorists who pervert a peaceful religion to spread destruction and hate.

We all have a shared interest in defeating these extremists; which means we also have a shared interest in building the kind of pluralist, stable and tolerant societies which are the best bulwarks against extremism and violence. There are deeply-rooted traditions of consultation and consensus within Islam that make it far from incompatible with progressive change towards more open and participative government.

If I can be allowed one historical suggestion, the concept of Shura - or consultation - was established far earlier than in the Christian world.

Indeed there is nothing in Arab culture which makes change impossible - the region has in some senses changed beyond recognition over the last decades. Only 907 boys attended school in Oman in 1970; today about 600,000 boys and girls do so. Dubai had little or no modern infrastructure before the 1970s; today it is a thriving, ultra-modern transport and trade hub. Egypt has transformed itself from a state-controlled to a largely free-enterprise economy. And free speech and a free media have operated for many years in parts of the Arab world. (One of the great things that has happened in Iraq is that instead of state-controlled media there is now a burgeoning independent press which is contributing to change and political debate.)

Arab societies have adjusted to change, and will continue to do so.

But even those who accept that change is right and inevitable sometimes argue that it can come only at the expense of religious and traditional values - that reform will necessarily breed individualism and the degradation of a traditional and devout way of life.

Again, the evidence shows this to be another misperception. Countries all around the world have managed to evolve towards pluralist and representative government without rejecting religion. Let me come back to the example of Europe. There is hardly a country in Europe without a Christian Democratic Party. A number of European countries accord a formal status within their constitutional arrangements to the church - as is the case within the UK for the Church of England and the Church of Scotland.

In the United States, where separation of church and state is a constitutional principle, large percentages of the population attend church regularly and cite religion as a central part of their daily lives. Pluralism and tolerance allow religion to flourish, as they have done for the over 2 million Muslims who practise their religion in Britain today. My own constituency has 25 mosques in it and I live opposite a madrasah. Indeed I am particularly proud of the fact that the Foreign Office every year sends a delegation to the Holy Places to offer support, consular help and medical treatment to the over 20,000 British Muslims performing Hajj. It is one example of the close partnership we have with British Muslim communities.

Promoting the values we believe in - good governance, human rights, tolerance and the rule of law - is not an attempt to impose 'Western' or 'Christian' values on Arab countries at the expense of their traditional culture. The values set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are just that - universal, and drawn from the traditions and values of countries around the world. They are values for which people around the world strive; and which are compatible with every single faith in the world. We want to see them fully realised everywhere.

Change does not have to come at the expense of the unique traditional culture which those in the region prize. Japan is no less Japanese today for having embraced democracy after the second world war. Indeed adapting to a changing world environment is the best route to ensuring that the Arab world's unique culture and identity can continue to prosper, and exert a greater influence for the good on us in the West. Without change, the build-up of political disillusion and economic stagnation can only threaten what Arabs hold so dear.

In recent years several Arab countries have struggled successfully with challenges to their immediate stability. I suggest that the new challenge is that of longer-term change. Change is in any case inevitable and therefore the choice is one between managed and unmanaged change.

There are risks involved in any reform. But the risks of doing nothing are far greater.

Reform will not come overnight - it will take place over the period of a generation, and it must proceed at a pace which societies can bear. Like all change, it will not be easy. We in the West need to support our Arab friends in every way we can as they lead the process of change in their countries.

We need to work in partnership to address this shared agenda. Indeed that is for me the key to this whole issue: partnerships across government and within the international community; and, most important, partnerships with Arab governments and institutions themselves.

Britain can play an important role. Our imperial past has left some understandable sensitivities in parts of the Arab world. But our history has also given us a network of friendships across North Africa and the Middle East, and an understanding of the region. We can offer our expertise in adapting to a changing world, for example on educational standards, legal reform, the participation of women, market regulation or youth policy.

But whatever we do in Britain, we need international partnerships to achieve our aims.

For Britain, working through the EU will be crucial. The European Security Strategy endorsed last December makes the Middle East a priority - and rightly so. The EU is already strongly engaged. The so-called 'MEDA' programme of aid totals around €700 million per year; the Barcelona Process and our partnership with the GCC give us frameworks for closer partnership; and bilateral Association Agreements link us even more closely to individual countries in the region. We now need to use these instruments more coherently and effectively to promote our shared goals - for example by focusing MEDA funds on our strategic objectives, and deepening the relationship with the Gulf states through the EU-GCC dialogue. The new European Neighbourhood Policy should also give us new opportunities to build partnerships for reform in the region. We need to work first of all with those countries which have shown a clear wish to reform; and we need to make sure the partnerships include conditions by which both sides are prepared to abide.

The United States will also have a crucial role. We in Europe should make clear that we share America's recognition of the need for reform, but that we need to work closely together and with the Arab world to ensure we get our approach right. The G8 also can also play an important part. For example we have put forward a suggestion for the G8 to work with business and with Arab governments to identify and reduce barriers to trade and investment, and to deepen local financial markets. The UN too has much to offer, and UN bodies have the expertise, resources and legitimacy which are necessary for success. NATO should also be able to offer help in some areas, for example closer cooperation in the fight against terrorism, proliferation and smuggling.

So the international community has the will and the ability to help those in the region to manage a process of change. But we must match our common engagement in support of reform with renewed international efforts to make progress in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both sides have suffered far too much, and the Palestinians are still without the state which is their right. We continue to urge both sides to uphold international law and human rights. Despite the difficulties of the situation, and the mistrust and hatred which it can breed on both sides, I also want to encourage greater understanding and mutual respect between Islam and Judaism. One of the fascinating things for me as a Christian, brought up with the Old and New Testaments, is when I attend Islamic ceremonies and listen to the recitation of the Koran. I am struck not by the differences in the messages of our respective holy prophets but by the similarities.

We cannot let the violence in Israel and Palestine be a block on the process of change which the region needs. But equally, we have to recognise, quite aside from its terrible human cost, that the continuing conflict makes change only more difficult than it already is, and clouds the whole relationship between the Islamic world and the West.

As long as the current stalemate continues, the situation in Palestine will be cited by many to argue that a region still in conflict needs stability, not reform. Getting Israelis and Palestinians to re-engage on the Road Map is vital, not just for their own sake, but for the process of change in the whole region. A new Palestinian state could be a leading example of reform in the Arab world. Even under uniquely difficult circumstances, Palestinians have shown in the past a genuine thirst for free institutions and education.

Both on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and on reform in the region, our international partnerships will play an important role. But I want to emphasise again that our most important partnerships for reform must be with Arab peoples and governments themselves.

To take the example of the Foreign Office's own programme for engaging with the Islamic World, we have sought to make central in the development of our Global Opportunities Fund, the principle of partnerships with Arab societies and institutions. So for example we are working with Saudi Chambers of Commerce to organise seminars on accession to the World Trade Organisation. In Egypt we are backing a programme for legal training in human rights and civil liberties cases: this is particularly timely as Egypt has just established its own high-level Human Rights Council. In Yemen, we are funding a management and leadership training course for businesswomen.

These are just a very few examples of projects we are supporting - but they demonstrate how we are working in partnership with local organisations, responding to the demands of local people.

As many of these projects show, there is now a recognition across the region, and around the world, of the need for reform in the Arab world to meet the daunting challenges it faces.

Arab governments now have a great opportunity to take the lead by setting out a vision for long-term change, and mobilising their people behind it.

It is not for me, or anyone in the West to tell the Arab world exactly how that vision should look. But the international community can do a great deal to support Arabs in the necessary process of change.

We need now to strengthen our shared commitment to partnerships for reform with the Arab world, based on strong foundations of friendship, understanding and mutual interest. Reform will be difficult; and it will take time. So we must not only engage now: we must also, over the coming years, stand by that commitment and further strengthen our shared engagement.