HIGHLIGHTS: Programme to be Unveiled by Powell Mid-September||Millions of U.S. Dollars Earmarked for Training Political Activists, Journalists and Trade Union Leaders||Effectiveness of U.S. Aid to Mideast Countries to be Reviewed||Mideast no Longer Off Limits as Far as Washington is Concerned||However, Outlook Remains Modest in Light of Prevailing Political Realities||Benefits of Globolization Depend on Degree of Democratic Reform Undertaken|| STORY: The United States plans to launch a program to promote democratic reforms in the Middle East later this year in a bid to lessen anti-American sentiment in the region, US officials said.

Secretary of State Colin Powell will likely unveil the program in a mid-September policy address that will focus on developing economic opportunities and political safety valves in the region, the officials said.

The program will promote economic, education and political reform, including 25 million dollars for pilot projects and additional millions for training political activists, journalists and trade union leaders, they said.

"It's in the planning stages now, but we are working with people to come up with a program that will concentrate on these areas," a State Department official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The program will also include a review of the effectiveness of the one billion dollars in foreign aid the United States gives to countries in the Middle East, according to that official and others.

The September 11 terrorist attacks, said the officials, boosted the message of advocates within the administration of President George W. Bush who favored democracy-building programs in the Middle East.

The threat of Middle Eastern poverty and autocracy to US interests seemed suddenly clear, the officials said, confirming a report in Wednesday's Washington Post newspaper.

"It's this whole change in the parameters of how we look at the Middle East, that it's no longer off-limits," a senior US official told the Post. "The state of affairs in these countries has to be a matter of interest to us."

He said the goal of the funding effort was: "Greater citizen involvement in the political process so they don't feel frustrated at home."

US ambitions for the program, however, remain modest because the Bush administration is wary of jeopardizing US relations with key allies in the region like Saudi Arabia and Egypt, who have been criticized for their human rights records, the paper said.

"You have to be realistic," said one US official. "Clearly we have important strategic relationships. What we're talking about doing is working together to encourage these changes -- but saying more clearly than we have before that these are changes the region needs to make if it is to receive the benefits of globalization."

One official told AFP that the new initiative would try to reach out to people from as many Middle Eastern and North African countries as possible, including Iran, Iraq and Libya.

"Obviously the governments of Iran, Iraq and Libya will not be involved but we are looking at ways to include all the people of the region in this," the official said.

Iran and Iraq form part of Bush's "axis of evil" and all three nations are designated "state sponsors of terrorism" by Washington

PHOTO CAPTION

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell branded as "dead wrong" a New York Time report on August 17 which claimed the U.S. helped Iraq in its war against Iran in the 80s. Powell is shown in Washington last week. REUTERS/William Philpott
- Aug 17 10:54 PM ET