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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A96-2004Dec14.html
Straight Talk
(Washington Post) Editorial - Last week 30 representatives of civic organizations from 13 Arab countries met in Rabat, Morocco, on the sidelines of the first meeting of the diplomatic instrument the U.S. and other industrialized countries created this year to encourage liberalization in the zone from Morocco to Afghanistan. What was new at the "Forum for the Future" was the presence of the civil society delegation, which said in a statement, "The main obstacle hindering reform is the lack of willingness on the part of most Arab governments to undertake real reforms." "Palestinian and Iraqi issues should not be used as excuses for not launching reforms." Moreover, Western governments should "relate their political and economic cooperation to the progress of reforms."