CAIRO, Jan 31: Arab states fear the emergence of a hostile Shia government in Iraq that may also add pressure on them to introduce their own political reforms. "Victory for (Ayatollah) Sistani," the Cairo daily Nahdat Misr headlined on Monday, referring to the Iran-born spiritual leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani.
Cairo University law professor Mohammed Nur Farhat asked if there had not been "an understanding, even partial, between the United States and Iran", paving the way for the Shias' expected rise to power.
Jordan expressed concern that the Shias might enjoy a monopoly of power in the new national assembly after the much lower turnout reported from areas inhabited by the Sunni elite.
King Abdullah said the Iraqi leadership must strive to bring the country's Sunnis into the fold and ensure that the constitution to be drafted by the elected parliament is inclusive.
"The Sunnis, I still believe, do feel marginalized," said the monarch, who had expressed fears of meddling by Iran in the election and noted that Sunni participation in the vote "a lot lower than any of us hoped".
The pro-government Amman daily Al Rai urged Sunnis not to be tempted by anti-US guerillas into jeopardizing Iraq's unity. "The Iraqis are... requested now to unite and safeguard their Arab identity... and not bet on the will and plans of foreigners, terrorists, extremists," an editorial said.
Saudi consultative council member Abdul Aziz al Fayez questioned suggestions that turnout had been surprisingly high even in Sunni areas, insisting the true level remained to be seen.
He also challenged the "fairness of the process", especially as it was held while Iraq remained "under occupation".
Commentators across the region predicted that Washington's success in organizing the elections would encourage neo-conservatives within the US administration in their ambitions to promote political reform across the region.
"While the world faces problems of a global scale, the United States has a single preoccupation - what they call democracy," complained a commentary in the government-owned Cairo daily, Al Akhbar.
"American democracy is a damaged good that the United States is trying to spread across the world in the interests of domination, oppression and obscurantism," it said. Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmad Nazif said earlier this year that "the Egyptian people do not attach priority to political reforms".
And President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday rejected calls for an amendment to the constitution to make the presidency directly elected by the people, in place of the present system under which a plebiscite is held on a single candidate nominated by parliament.
"I am not going to make a change that would go down as a black day in Egyptian history," he told reporters on Saturday. But analysts warned that the pressure for reform now risked becoming unstoppable, however much governments around the region tried to resist it.
"Democracy is an idea that is now on the march in the Middle East even if the efforts to contain it are immense," said Amr al Shubaqi of the Al Ahram Centre for Political Studies in Cairo. -AFP