U.S. to spend $5 million for reformers in Syria

Reuters AlertNet - U.S. to spend $5 million for reformers in Syria

U.S. to spend $5 million for reformers in Syria
17 Feb 2006 21:33:02 GMT
Source: Reuters
WASHINGTON, Feb 17 (Reuters) - The United States will hand out about $5 million in grants to democratic reformers in Syria, the State Department announced on Friday.

It did not indicate which Syrian groups would get the funds but said they were aimed at "accelerating the work of reformers". A Web site has been set up for people to apply for grants (www.mepi.state.gov).

"The United States stands firmly with courageous men and women struggling for their freedom across the Middle East, including in Syria," said senior State Department official Elizabeth Cheney, who announced the grants.

The United States is at loggerheads with Syria over what it sees as interference in Iraq and neighboring Lebanon. It also accuses Syria of not cooperating with a U.N. inquiry into the murder of the Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.

Cheney, the daughter of U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, said the people of Syria deserved the opportunity to build a better future and "live in freedom" and these grants were aimed at encouraging this.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has put promoting democracy at the heart of her foreign policy platform but many in the Middle East are wary of U.S. intentions.

Arab states insist any change must come from within rather than being forced from the outside and they interpret U.S. attempts to impose democracy as meddling.

The money for Syrian grants comes from the U.S. government's so-called Middle East Partnership Initiative, which was announced in 2002 to promote reforms in the Middle East and North Africa.

So far, it has been given nearly $300 million for more than 350 projects in 14 countries and the Palestinian territories.

The Syrian grant program follows an announcement this week that the Bush administration will ask Congress for $75 million to expand television broadcasts in Iran as part of a campaign to boost democracy there.

The United States is trying to isolate Iran over its suspected nuclear weapons program. Iran denies it is trying to build a bomb and says its nuclear program is for peaceful energy purposes