(Washington Post) Robin Wright - An international conference in Bahrain intended to advance democracy in the Middle East ended Saturday without a formal declaration, eliciting expressions of disappointment from U.S. officials, who considered the conference a key part of President Bush's regional democracy initiative. In a surprise move, Egypt derailed the Forum for the Future by demanding that Arab governments be given significant control over which pro-democracy groups would receive aid from a new fund. The U.S. delegation expressed disappointment with Egypt, which receives roughly $2 billion in U.S. military and economic assistance annually. "Obviously, we're not pleased," said a senior State Department official.
2005-11-15 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive