Arabs relish US Republican election losses

CAIRO, Nov 8 (Reuters) Arabs relished today the beating the US Republican party took in mid-term elections, saying President George W. Bush had been given a well-deserved slap for heavy handed West Asia tactics.

But few believed the elections that handed Democrats at least partial control of Congress would excrt any real policy shift on the issues they care about most -- from the US role in Iraq to the Iranian nuclear row, Israel and Sudan.

''There will be a feeling that justice has been done partly, although not completely,'' said Mustafa al-Sayyid, a political scientist at Cairo University.

''People are realistic. A victory in Congress doesn't mean the administration will be forced to change its foreign policy. Moreover President Bush is known to be quite rigid. His approach is ideological and it is difficult to expect he will change.'' US voters handed a huge victory to Democrats, who gained about 30 seats in the House of Representatives on a wave of discontent with the Iraq war, corruption and Bush's leadership.

Democratic control of the House could slam the brakes on much of Bush's agenda and increase pressure for a change of course in Iraq.

Democrats also moved to the brink of capturing the Senate, pending late results.

From Sudan to Egypt to Iraq -- countries where many Arabs see US policy in the region as domineering and imbalanced -- that prospect was seen as worthy of celebration.

''It's something every Egyptian should see as excellent. We hope there'll be no more attacks on Muslim countries,'' said Samer Kamel, a watch salesman in the Egyptian capital.

Many Arabs would like a more hands-off US policy in the region.

They nearly universally oppose the US military presence in Iraq and see the Bush administration as siding with Israel in its decades-old conflict with the Palestinians.

ARABS PREFER LIGHTER TOUCH Arabs also tend to oppose US-led efforts to curb Iran's nuclear programme, not necessarily out of strong support for Tehran's ambitions but because Washington is silent on Israel's nuclear programme.

Some Arabs also see the US as being too forceful over demands for international troops for Sudan's war-ravaged Darfur region, where Bush has said genocide was taking place, a charge Khartoum denies.

Arabs would prefer a lighter touch.

''We are hoping for relations of cooperation and not confrontation,'' said al-Samani al-Wasiyla, Sudanese Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.

Algerian analyst Ismail Maaraf Ghalia said: ''The Democrats will also make US proposals for reforms in the Arab World more credible because their idea is based on partnership not on pressure and interference in internal affairs.'' Few Arabs saw evidence that US Democrats would force a total about-face on policy, especially on Iraq, but hoped they would help push the administration to be more diplomatic.

''Their strategy would not be so different from the current Republicans' strategy, but policy decisions wouldn't be as aggressive, arrogant or ill-advised as happened in the past few years,'' Kuwaiti political analyst Khaldoun al-Naqeeb said.

Abdel Monem Said of Egypt's Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies said that while Democrats may restrain the Bush administration a little in Iraq, a divided government could also see Washington deferring engagement on other fronts like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, creating a void.

''A void in the world power system usually is not good,'' he said. ''A lot of evil-doers will try to fill the vacuum.'' Reuters AKJ GC2233