16 May 2004	Sunday	25 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1425

HELSINKI: Given gory television pictures of a captive being beheaded, abuse of Iraqi prisoners, bomb explosions in Saudi Arabia and fighting between Israelis and Palestinians , the world's attention is undoubtedly focused on events in the Middle East.

But while such television images raise concerns, attempts are being made to draw attention to latent issues underlying the disturbing pictures.

Several experts pointed out at a meeting organized by civil society groups here earlier this week that despite oil wealth the Arab region is lacking in social and political reforms. Unless these are addressed immediately, political stability will be difficult to achieve, they said.

But a first step would have to be a lasting solution to the 37-year old conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, they agreed.

"The Israeli-Palestinian conflict affects all countries in the region and saps a lot of their energy," said Assia Bensalah Alaoui, professor of international law at University Mohamed V in Rabat, Morocco. "The conflict lies at the heart of lack of genuine social and political reforms, and unless a lasting solution is found any calls for reforms would almost all entirely prove futile."

Alaoui cited the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Arab Human Development Report of 2002 which says that "in most Arab states occupation dominates national priorities, creates large humanitarian challenges for those receiving refugees, and motivates the diversion of public investment in human development towards military spending."

Alaoui's views were supported by Ibrahim Osman, director of the policy and relations division of the International Committee of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Geneva. Osman, a Sudanese, is involved in the reconstruction of Iraq.

Once the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be resolved it would deny Arab countries a major pretext for dragging their feet on reforms, he said. "The majority of the Arab populations are even more supportive of rapid reforms than the Western countries," he said, while clarifying these are his personal views.

Experts spoke of wide gaps between Arab people and their governments. People see their leaders as the creation of Western countries who are there to serve Western interests, Alaoui said. Most Arabs differ on every issue with their leaders from the Arab-Israeli conflict to the situation in Iraq, she said.

"The Arab countries lag behind the rest of the world culturally, economically and politically," said Aapo Polho, director of Middle East affairs at the Finnish ministry for foreign affairs. Polho offered an astonishing example that every year only 100 books are translated into Arabic language for a population of about 280 million, while about 2,000 books are translated into Finnish spoken by only five million.

The UNDP report provides an indication of the economic stagnation in the region. "About 65 million Arabs are illiterate, two-thirds of them women," the report says. Illiteracy rates are much higher than in poorer countries and by current trends ten million children between age six and 15 currently out of school will increase by 40 per cent by 2015, the year the UN has set to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, the report says.

Experts said most Arabs see the West as pursuing its own interests, caring little for Arab people. "The West has always viewed the Arab world as a vehicle to promote their interests, and not as partners," said Osman. And so Western calls for social and political reforms are viewed with suspicion, he said.

Another factor is the difference in approach by the United States and the European Union. Polho says that as a former colonial power in the region the EU understands the region better and tries to deal with problems through a multilateral framework and dialogue. For instance, the Barcelona Process initiated in November 1995 between the European Union and its 12 Mediterranean Partners aims to set up a Euro-Mediterranean free trade area by 2010.-Dawn/ The InterPress News Service.