KUWAIT CITY: The Bush administration and Arab leaders are engaged in a delicate dance over President Bush's call for democracy in the Middle East, with each side struggling to find a balance between high-minded rhetoric and actual progress , US and Arab officials said.

Facing an Arab backlash, the Bush administration has re-honed its "Greater Middle East Initiative", due to be unveiled at the Group of Eight summit of industrial powers in June, to place greater emphasis on plans emerging from the region, such as a possible resolution from the Arab League later this month, US officials said.

Arab officials say they feel pressured to respond to the Bush administration proposals, but even reformers privately say they are fearful that any US imprimatur will discredit the initiative in the eyes of the Arab public and strengthen radical Muslim forces.

The balancing act was on display last week as Secretary of State Colin Powell met with Kuwaiti and Saudi officials about the US initiative. Powell told reporters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Friday that the push for greater freedoms in the Middle East was "not a matter of satisfying the United States; it's a matter of satisfying the aspirations of the people in the Arab world."

Powell flew back to Washington after meeting with Kuwait's emir, Sheik Jabir Ahmed Sabah on Saturday. In recent weeks, after administration plans for the June summit were leaked before US officials fully discussed them with Arab leaders, a bevy of US officials have toured the region to make amends.

"When our ideas were first made known to the press, there was a great deal of angst in the region," Mr Powell acknowledged. "It has caused a great deal of debate, a lot of argument in the press, and that's good. That's part of the democratic process."

"Each nation has to find its own path and follow that path at its own speed," Powell said. Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud Faisal, standing next to Mr Powell, responded that the Saudi monarchy was ushering in reforms but not "to get a report of good behaviour". He said reform would take place at a pace that would make it "a unifying force for the country and not a divisive aspect."

Saudi Arabia has scheduled its first municipal elections for later this year and officials have hinted that women may be granted the right to vote. But shortly before Powell arrived, Saudi officials arrested 10 reformist figures, including a university professor, after they had called for the monarchy to move towards a more constitutional model.

They also were planning to criticize a state-approved human rights group set up earlier this month. Saudi officials said the group was involved in "acts of sabotage".

Mr Powell said he has expressed concern over the detentions. But Prince Saud, the foreign minister, said, "These people sowed dissension when the whole country was looking for unity and a clear vision, especially at a time when it is facing a terrorist threat."

The pace of reforms has also been uneven in Kuwait. The press is relatively free to criticize the government but not the Amir. Some Muslim leaders have used the political process to block even modest reforms proposed by the Amir, including granting women the right to vote, liberalizing the economy and allowing coeducation at universities.

"Kuwait is moving in this direction rather steadily with a legislature that is - how should I put this gently - is showing some energy with respect to oversight of the government," Mr Powell said on Saturday after meeting Kuwaiti officials.

Officials are now focusing on the upcoming Arab League summit in Tunis, which begins on March 29. The 22 members of League have indicated that they will discuss democracy initiatives and possibly adopt a resolution.

"I think if the Arab League could come to some conclusion that everyone agrees to we would certainly respect that statement of vision from the Arab League," Mr Powell said.

But US officials said the actual text of a resolution would play a crucial role in whether it could be embraced as a step forward at the G-8 summit. Egypt, which has criticized the US initiative, has submitted a proposed resolution that US officials have suggested falls short of Bush administration goals.

The Egyptian proposal would affirm a commitment to "processes of modernization and reform that are undertaken by Arab societies in response to the wish and needs of their people."

The initiative supports the efforts of civil society organizations "within the framework of legality" and links progress on the issue to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. -Dawn/The LAT-WP News Service (c) The Washington Post.