"I am announcing today an initiative that places the United States firmly on the side of change, on the side of reform and on the side of a modern future for the Middle East, on the side of hope," Powell said in a speech to the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank based in Washington.

The secretary said the program, called the US-Middle East Partnership Initiative, is "an innovative set of programs and a framework for future cooperation" between the United States and the Middle East.

He said the initiative rests on three pillars and will "provide funding and a framework for the United States to work together with governments and people in the Arab world to expand economic, educational and political opportunity" in the Middle East.

"Any approach to the Middle East that ignores its political, economic and educational development will be built upon sand," the US secretary said.

He said the US government will initially dedicate US$29 million to get the initiative started and will work with the US Congress to seek additional funding for next year.

Asked whether the initiative is an effort by the United States to take the wind out of the sails of Middle East radicals in the US-led war on terror, Powell said the project can be seen as something totally separate from the Sept. 11 incident.

However, he acknowledged that the Sept. 11 attacks did make the program more relevant.

(Xinhua News Agency December 13, 2002)