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ONE-THIRD OF DOCUMENTS PREPARED FOR SIGNATURE AT GROUP OF EIGHT SUMMIT IS "RAW" - SOURCE

SEA ISLAND (Georgia, U.S.) /MOSCOW, June 9 (RIA Novosti) - One-third of the documents drafted for signing at the end of Group of Eight summit meetings is in a "raw" condition and the signature of some of them may be threatened, a source in the Russian delegation told reporters.

In particular this concerns the document on negotiations for entry into the World Trade Organization and the document "The Greater Middle East and North Africa", which is for the moment being discussed most of all.

The source noted that on the last document the main debate unfolded around the issue of rendering financial aid to the region's countries. "None of the Group of Eight members, apart from the Americans, is prepared to contribute to the contemplated fund of economic assistance the $100 million proposed by the US, or to allocate in general any fresh money, motivating it by the fact that Group of Eight countries have a large number of bilateral and multilateral programs with the countries of that region, and also by the fact that the Middle East has enough wealthy countries which can help their neighbors," the source said.

At the same time, he noted that "this (uncoordination of documents) is, unfortunately, a standard situation for all Group of Eight summits and the Evian (previous summit) documents were, for example, agreed on the last night."

The diplomatic source in Moscow told RIA Novosti that the last version of the Group of Eight's political declaration on the US initiative - "The Greater Middle East and North Africa - is in general more balanced and meets Russian approaches," he said.

He said that the document records Moscow's arguments - the Group of Eight supports calls for reforms coming from the region but does not force its vision of modernization, the need for promoting Arab-Israeli settlement and stabilization in Iraq.

"Washington also had to agree to and record in the document the thesis that whatever may be proposed by the Group of Eight to these states, this must be aimed at supporting their own requirements and not imposed from the outside," the source told the agency.

The Greater Middle East initiative, which represents a scheme for regional restructuring, was advanced by the American administration in February of this year. The goal, announced by Washington, is to neutralize threats to security coming from the region, and to unite the allies on a Middle East platform according to western standards and under American leadership.

According to the source, under the effect of the first harsh reaction of the region's countries, and also bearing in mind the considerations expressed concerning this theme by Russia and other European countries, first of all France and Germany, the US was compelled to realign its approaches. At the same time, the source remarked, "the document is still not devoid of some lecturing tone, and not always of a justified bias towards increasing the role of 'civil society'."

"Improvements are also needed in elements relating to the link between Middle East settlement and processes of democratization and social development," the source said.

According to him, the boundaries of the Greater Middle East and North Africa are not yet finally defined.

"The question was the subject of lengthy discussions," the source said. According to the source, all European countries, as well as Japan, came out for the region being limited mainly to Arab states and were opposed to having Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey included into it.

Moscow is also against Russia's contribution to the Group of Eight's action plan to implement the Greater Middle East initiative being financial, the diplomatic source told RIA Novosti.

The source recalled that following the discussion at the Group of Eight summit of the American Greater Middle East and North Africa initiative as a supplement to the political statement, it is planned to adopt the Group of Eight action plan to help the region's countries in democratization and socio-economic development,

"Russia's possible contribution to the implementation of the action plan should probably be not of a financial character - the means are available in the region - but constitute methodological, advisory and technical assistance bearing in mind Russia's experience in these fields," the diplomatic source emphasized.

As an example he cited Russia's participation in launching a Forum for the Future for the Greater Middle East and North Africa, which is something along the lines of APEC, involving an exchange of experience of parliaments, the Central Election Committee, political parties, and non-governmental organizations, and personnel training.

"It appears important that the action plan should not be forced upon the region," the source said. He wished that the plan "should be a continuation of the work within the framework of the Forum for the Future, rather than a document handed down as a directive to the region's countries from Sea Island."