RIYADH, March 21: Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal on Sunday criticized US-led calls for reform in the Middle East and said Arab countries could tackle their problems by themselves.

He was speaking just two days after talks in Riyadh with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. The US proposals "include clear accusations against the Arab people and their governments that they are ignorant of their own affairs", the official Saudi Press Agency quoted the prince as saying in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.

"Those behind these plans ignore the fact that our Arab people have cultures rooted deep in history and that we are able to handle our own affairs," he said. Mr Powell's visit to Riyadh was overshadowed by Washington's criticism of the arrest of at least 10 pro-reform activists in Saudi Arabia.

The United States is eager to promote reform in the Middle East and has encouraged its long-standing ally to speed up change since the September 11. The US believes lack of democracy in Arab states has helped fuel Islamic militancy. Arab leaders meet in Tunis later this month seeking a common response to the US plans, dubbed the "Greater Middle East Initiative".

Saudi Arabia has already promised municipal elections later this year, but the kingdom says its cautious programme of political change will not be influenced by outside pressure.

Last week it rejected US criticism of its arrest of the reformists, saying the detentions were an internal affair. Several of the detainees have been released.

Prince Saud said calls for Arabs to join the modern world were being made "as if for all these years we had not been doing anything and had just been waiting for direction from outside". -Reuters