Leaders across the Middle East on Thursday expressed hope US President-elect George W. Bush will be able to deliver a long-sought peace to the troubled region.
But Middle East leaders made it clear the new resident of the White House has some work to do in the face of almost three months of deadly violence and the perceived pro-Israeli bias of Washington.
In Israel, Washington's closest Middle East ally and the recipient of more than three billion dollars in US aid annually, caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak hailed the "courageous friendship" between the two nations.
"Joint values and interests have characterized the relations between Israel and the United States for decades, and there is no doubt that President-elect Bush, whom I know and appreciate, will continue with us to strengthen and develop these ties," his office said in a statement.
"The new administration will continue on the path set by its predecessor and will be ready to help the people of the region to find peace," the statement said.
But privately, Israeli politicians seemed less than pleased about the president-elect.
"Senior Israeli officials say that with Bush, there will be no weekly phone calls to the Israeli prime minister like in Bill Clintons days, that there will be no political directives from the White House to the State Department and Pentagon to help Israel," Aluf Benn wrote in the Israeli daily Haaretz.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat welcomed the election of George W. Bush, saying it would be positive for the troubled Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
"(We must) not forget that his father started the Mideast conference," Arafat said.
George Bush senior was president when the Middle East peace process was launched in Madrid in 1991.
Arafat also said that outgoing President Bill Clinton had sent him a message via US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross that he was "determined to profit from his remaining time to achieve quickly something concrete (on the peace process)."
But acknowledging Palestinian concerns Washington is a less than an honest broker for peace, Arafat's occasional spokeswoman, Hanan Ashrawi, told CNN: "Maybe now there will be an understanding that US interests are more within the Arab world, more within a more even-handed, comprehensive approach to the region."
Egypt, the main Arab go-between in the on-again, off-again peace talks and another recipient of billions in US aid, said it was hoping for a "balanced" attitude toward finding peace as well.
"All we can say is that we wish him good luck and that we hope for a balanced approach to the Middle East," Foreign Minister Amr Moussa told reporters.
In Jordan, Foreign Minister Abdel Ilah al-Khatib said the kingdom hoped the US will continue its role in "the search for peace."
In Damascus, where peace talks with Israel have been frozen for more than a year, President Bashar al-Assad sent a telegram to Bush, expressing the hope that the United States and Syria would work for "a just and global peace in the region."
In Lebanon, Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri looked to the new American leadership for a US Middle East policy more favorable to Arabs.
Hariri called for the Bush administration to apply "the American values of supporting people's right to liberty and self-determination to the recovery of occupied Lebanese and Syrian territories and for the Palestinian people."
Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani and Bahrain's Prime Minister Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa both sent telegrams of congratulations, as did Oman's Sultan Qaboos, who said he wanted to "work together to contribute to realising peace and prosperity for all peoples."
Iran, which opposes the peace process and has warmly supported the latest Palestinian uprising against Israel, reminded the president-elect of his pledges to take a less interventionist foreign policy.
"If Bush holds to his campaign promises over the next four years, the United States will meddle less often in the rest of the world's affairs," Iranian state radio said in a commentary.
"Bush believes less than his predecessor that the United States should govern the world," it said, adding that the long post-election wrangle over the result was a "weakness which will have an impact on the stature of the president in the next four years."
It also said the new administration should be looking to lift unilateral sanctions on the Islamic republic -- NICOSIA (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
