Anger, skepticism awaits Bush in Middle East

By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent - Analysis

BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to the Middle East this week will evoke widespread hostility in a region where many view him as a war-monger pursuing U.S.-Israeli hegemony, not peace and democracy.

In the Arab street, Bush is seen as the man whose invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq to wage "war on terrorism" brought chaos to the region and more recruits to al Qaeda.

Many identify him with U.S. abuses at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq as well as the perceived injustices of the Guantanamo detention centre for alleged al Qaeda combatants.

They contrast his talk of democracy and human rights with his support for autocrats in Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, and with the U.S.-led boycott of Hamas after the armed Islamist group won Palestinian elections in 2006.

"The U.S. image remains abysmal in most Muslim countries in the Middle East and Asia," according to a poll on global attitudes by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center last year.

Few Arabs or Iranians think Bush can achieve progress toward peace during his first visit as president to Israel and the Palestinian territories -- and some doubt this is his goal.

"I have no belief that he will resolve anything," said Diaa Rashwan, analyst at Egypt's al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, questioning Bush's power and credibility.

"The American president had seven years to resolve problems in this area. He will come only to say goodbye," he said.

"Perhaps he still has this naive perception that coming here will correct his image, without making any real policy, and that people will forgive him. I don't think so."

Given that many Israelis regard Bush as the best friend they ever had in the White House, it is no surprise to find Arabs convinced the U.S. leader is an enemy of the Palestinians.

"The American administration is responsible for supporting the Israeli occupation and its violations of international law. These facts should not vanish from the memory of those who will receive President Bush," Syria's Tishreen daily said on Tuesday.

Bush is to meet Palestinian and Israeli leaders separately to bolster talks launched at the Annapolis conference he hosted in November. The aim is to reach agreement by the end of 2008 on creating a Palestinian state. But skepticism runs deep.

SCANT HOPES

"I don't see a new vision. There is nothing you can build on from Annapolis," said Sulayman Awad Ibrahim, an analyst at the Gulf Research Centre in Dubai. "If he wants to enter the history books in his last year, fine, but it did not work for Clinton."

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton raced to clinch a Middle East peace deal in 2000 in the twilight of his term, but failed.