CAIRO, Nov 3: People in the Middle East, with the exception of Israelis and some Iranians, reacted with resigned disappointment on Wednesday to President Bush's re-election.
One consolation for them was that few had high hopes of Democratic challenger John Kerry, who attacked the way Bush has handled the occupation of Iraq but did not promise action Arabs wanted to see on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Many said they feared another four years of Bush would bring more conflict and bloodshed to the Middle East, which has borne the brunt of Washington's doctrine of pre-emptive attacks.
A few said Bush was preferable because he now knew the region and would have time to adjust his policies, or because of his campaign for political reform in the Arab world.
Imad Shuaibi, a professor at Damascus University, predicted "four years of nightmare again" on the assumption that Bush would not learn from his first term.
"(A Bush victory) is likely to mean more violence in Iraq, in Afghanistan but not only there. Other hot spots could blaze up like Sudan, Iran, Syria. Dark clouds are gathering," said Ali Ammar, a lawyer in Morocco.
Jasim Ali, a Bahraini analyst, said: "This is not good news for the Middle East. Bush could take this as a sign that his foreign policy in the region is a success and he may harden his positions. There will be more killing and bloodshed."
"Four more years means ... more innocent people will be victims. Unless he has more sober people around him I don't know what is going to happen," added Khaled Maeena, editor in chief of the Saudi newspaper Arab News.-Reuters
