With US Secretary of State Colin Powell due in Israel this weekend, the Arabic-language press is generally pessimistic about the prospects for the US' new Middle East peace plan, the roadmap.
The papers also speculate on what the US means when it promises to bring democracy to Iraq.
Powell's visit will be crucial and will show whether Washington is really serious about carrying out the commitments it took on when it said that the publication of the roadmap meant the beginning of its implementation without any amendments or delay.
Al-Ra'y - Jordan
It is clear that there is an important link between President Bush's plan and Colin Powell's visit, as well as a tacit understanding that there will be no solution to the Palestinian crisis... Peace is now in the hands of Israel which has never fulfilled its duties and is instead continuing its attacks against Palestinians.
Al-Dustur - Jordan
We are on the eve of Powell's visit to Israel, and still Israel has not given any signs of accepting the new roadmap peace plan.
Al-Jazeera - Saudi Arabia
Powell is to arrive in Israel soon but beforehand he was subjected to enormous pressure by hundreds of MPs and senators in Washington warning him against putting any pressure on Israel and forcing it to implement the roadmap... Powell will only fulfil one mission, which will target Palestinians, who have already agreed to comply with the roadmap.
Al-Jazeera - Saudi Arabia
US administration officials like US Secretary of State Colin Powell, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and President George Bush himself have said the US will introduce a model democratic system in Iraq comprising all political parties... eliminating the Baath party and some Shias from any political role contradicts this statement.
Al-Quds Al-Arabi - London-based
The US insists an Islamic regime in Iraq like the one in Iran will not be allowed... Real democracy is manifested through ballot boxes and respects people's choices, but it seems the US administration wants a democracy based on its own interests... Iraqi opposition leaders are expected to forgive those other party leaders with whom they have always had differences, and they are not expected to commit the same mistakes others have committed.
Al-Quds al-Arabi - London-based
In Iraq there is now hunger, cholera... and "democracy" of course!
Al-Thawrah - Syria
A month after Baghdad's fall, the capital is still with no water, electricity, telephones and public utilities, without a government body and without laws. The most dangerous thing is that the US Government has shown no seriousness about finding a solution to these basic problems.
Al-Safir - Lebanon
The US now controls the fate of the Iraqi people. It behaves as if it was a nation "above any law" and is willing to lift the sanctions on the "new" Iraq that is the "American Iraq".
Al-Akhbar - Egypt
BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
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