RABAT, Dec 11: Arab nations on Saturday rebuffed US calls for speedy democratic reforms, insisting that steps the United States deems essential to stem terrorism be tied to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

While agreeing that political, social and economic liberalization is desirable, senior Arab diplomats disagreed with outgoing US Secretary of State Colin Powell's argument that reforms could not be delayed for any reason.

Speaker after speaker at the "Forum for the Future" conference here said progress would be difficult, if not impossible, without a resolution to the Arab-Israeli conflict and lambasted the US bias toward Israel.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al Faisal put it most bluntly, telling the conference that the US bias toward Israel was the main obstacle to promoting reform in the region.

"The real bone of contention is the longest conflict in modern history," he said. "For too long the Arabs have witnessed the Western bias toward Israel."

The prince said the Arab world understood US security guarantees to Israel, but could not comprehend how Washington's backing for regional democracy did not extend to restraining Israel in the Palestinian territories.

"What the Arab peoples cannot fathom is why these guarantees are translated into unrestricted backing of unrestrained Israeli policies (that are) contrary to international legality," Prince Saud said.

In the final statement, participants said "support for reform in the region will go hand-in-hand with their support for a just, comprehensive and lasting settlement to the Arab-Israeli conflict".

Although the United States signed onto the statement, Mr Powell disagreed with the conditions attached to moving ahead with change.

"We can't hold up reform or slow the pace of reform or keep reform from accelerating because of these other issues," he said at a news conference.

"... Reform is necessary," Mr Powell said at the close of the forum, which was attended by top officials from more than 20 countries.

During the meeting Mr Powell had made the same case directly to the participants, telling them not "to argue about the pace of democratic reform ..."

"All of us confront the daily threat of terrorism," Mr Powell said. "To defeat the murderous extremists in our midst, we must work together to address the causes of despair and frustration that extremists exploit for their own ends."

While his audience listened politely, there was clear resistance to putting reforms before a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian or wider Middle East conflict, which they see as the most destabilizing element in the region.

Arab League chief Amr Mussa insisted that peace in the region was necessary for the reforms envisioned by the US-proposed Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA) initiative, which has been endorsed by the G-8 nations.

The final statement made clear that the forum had agreed that reforms must be homegrown, could not be imposed from outside and had to move at a pace suitable for each country. And despite the differences, the participants agreed to meet again next year in Bahrain, the only country to offer to host the next conference, according to the Moroccan foreign minister.-AFP