WASHINGTON - Last month's balloting in Iraq is reverberating throughout the Middle East, top US Senator John McCain said Sunday, citing just-called multi-candidate presidential elections in Egypt as the most recent example of the regional sea change.
"This ... is directly attributable to the successful elections in Iraq, to the movement toward democracy in other parts of the Middle East, progress in the Palestinian-Israeli situation," McCain, an Arizona Republican and former presidential candidate, told Fox News.
"I'm glad that the Egyptians are agreeing to multiparty elections for the first time in I don't know how many years," he said.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday said he had told parliament to amend Egypt's constitution to allow direct presidential elections in which anyone can stand and all citizens can vote by secret ballot.
"I'm an eternal optimist ... but we could be on the verge of seeing a fundamental sea change in the Middle East toward freedom and democracy," McCain said.
"I really believe that our success in Iraq and Afghanistan has had an impact on the politics of the Middle East, and a very beneficial one, and including, by the way, Lebanon," McCain said.
Another senior lawmaker took another view however, saying that the elections were heartening, but hardly indicative of a trend in the country or the region.
"Let's not let the elections mask the hard problems that lie ahead. The one thing I've learned by my third visit is that the security situation is worse. We had a lot less freedom to travel around," said Republican senator Lindsey Graham on CNN television.
"My impression is that we've got a long way to go," Graham said.
02/27/2005 19:23 GMT