Military

DATE=3/30/2004

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=U-S / MIDEAST / LUGAR (L-O)

NUMBER=2-314607

BYLINE=MEREDITH BUEL

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A leading U-S senator on foreign affairs is proposing that the world's major nations start a trust fund to promote economic growth and political reforms in the Middle East. Senator Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, says his proposal will help promote democracy in the region. Correspondent Meredith Buel reports from Washington.

TEXT: Senator Lugar says leaders from the Group of Eight nations, who are scheduled to meet at a summit in June, should consider a plan to encourage countries in the Middle East to end what he says is their isolation and ease poverty.

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The region is a prime source of what I believe is the greatest single threat to modern civilization in the 21st century -- that is the nexus between terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. We must promote security and stability in this vast but troubled region, where demographics, religious extremism, autocratic governments, isolation, stagnant economic systems and war have often overwhelmed the talents of its peoples and the wealth of its natural resources.

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The G-8 consists of the seven major industrialized nations (the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Canada) and Russia.

Senator Lugar says those nations as well as wealthy countries in the Middle East should contribute to a trust fund that would conform to Islamic financial principles and be sensitive to the region's cultural concerns.

The chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee points out that the most recent United Nations Arab Human Development Report says 65-million Arab adults, including half the women, are illiterate and less than two-percent of the Arab population has access to the Internet.

Senator Lugar says such isolation contributes to misunderstandings and prejudice that lead to violence.

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The Twenty First Century Trust would unite the G-8 countries with donor countries in the Middle East in a quest for political, economic, and educational modernization. The donors would pool resources to deliver grants and would work together to define the funding criteria based, in part, on the high priority needs identified in the United Nations' Arab Human Development Reports, which were written by Arab scholars. Vigorous two-way interaction between donors and recipients is vital. Change cannot be imposed from the outside.

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Senator Lugar's proposal comes just before President Bush holds a series of meetings with leaders from the Middle East in April.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah are all scheduled to meet separately with President Bush during the month.

President Bush may formally unveil his own "Greater Middle East Initiative" at the G-8 summit in June. (Signed)

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