The US stance is nothing but a recipe for endless war

Lebanese newspaper al-Anwar

The bombing of Afghanistan is opposed by most ordinary Arabs, but their leaders had been hoping that consolation would come in the form of a new Middle East peace initiative out of Washington.

It has not. Instead, moderate pro-Arab leaders are embarrassed by the US government's offhand treatment of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

On Saturday, the Saudi government-controlled press called President Bush's refusal to meet the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at the UN General Assembly "a calculated snub".

Insulted

The daily Saudi newspaper Arab News said President Bush had to realise that he could not "kick Arabs in the teeth" over the Palestinian issue, yet expect them to fall into line on global terrorism.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell, said President Bush would meet Mr Arafat when "the time was right".

Arabs are angry that violent Palestinian groups are branded "terrorists"

But in the United Arab Emirates, the official government paper al-Bayan accused Washington of not caring about Arab support in its campaign against terrorism.

A Lebanese newspaper al-Anwar said the US stance was nothing but a recipe for endless war.

Arabs all over the Middle East are angered by Washington's inclusion of violent Palestinian groups such as Islamic Jihad on a list of terror groups.

Despite the fact that such groups have sent suicide bombers into Israeli cities, Arabs say that people fighting to liberate their own land should not be labelled as terrorists.

Once the war in Afghanistan is over, it is this disputed definition of terrorism that is likely to further widen the rift between America and the Arab world.