Powell Trip Deemed a Failure by Egyptian Analysts

CAIRO: Secretary of State Colin Powell ended his visit to the Middle East with a stop in Cairo and a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher and their Jordanian counterpart Marwan al-Muasher. The secretary's just completed trip has produced a harsh reaction from political analysts in Egypt.

Without an immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian-controlled territories or a cease-fire, political analysts in Egypt are calling Secretary of State Colin Powell's mission to the Middle East a failure.

Hassan Nafae is the head of the political science department at Cairo University. He says Mr. Powell's only accomplishment was to further alienate an already angry Arab world from the United States.

"I think you will not find any single citizen in the whole Arab and Muslim world that has any respect now for the American government," he said. "And we all have the impression that Israel will lead the United States to a tremendous and very regrettable confrontation between the United States and the Arab world."