May 12, 2003	Monday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 9, 1424

CAIRO: Many Arabs are deeply suspicious about Washington’s new free-trade plan for the Middle East and fear it is a Trojan horse for economic imperialism.

Jordan is the only Arab state that has a free trade pact with the United States, while others such as Morocco, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have pushed for stronger commercial ties.

But now that the plan is on the table, some officials and many ordinary Arabs worry it is only a ploy to cement US dominance in the region.

“After US President George W. Bush drew up the political map for the Middle East by invading Iraq, he has started to map out the economic plan for the region, adding commercial hegemony to military hegemony,” wrote Samih Saab, a columnist in Lebanon’s daily an-Nahar.

The response is the opposite of what US officials had hoped to achieve in a region where distrust of the United States is running high over the Iraq war and Washington’s perceived pro-Israeli bias.

On Friday — the day US Secretary of State Colin Powell embarked on the Bush administration’s first major peacemaking trip to the Middle East — Bush laid out plans for the reform-linked free trade accord, seeking to rekindle goodwill in Arab states with the promise of trade and development.

Bush’s vision of opening markets to reciprocal trade and investment could take up to 10 years to realize, and is tied to reforms in Arab states such as fighting corruption and terrorism, and protecting property rights.

FEARS OF A CATCH: While prospects of greater markets for their goods are appealing to Arab states, many officials and citizens are worried protected local industries will not be able to compete with an onslaught of US goods backed by slick marketing.

Others fear Washington could demand painful reforms which could threaten domestic stability. The United States has already deeply unsettled some Arab states by promoting democracy in a region where few leaders have a popular mandate.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher of Egypt, whose country is a vital US ally in the region and is the second biggest aid recipient after Israel, said Cairo was keen to promote bilateral economic relations but would have to study the proposal first.

Few other Arab countries have officially commented on the plan, but the public is generally wary.—Reuters