Alsoudi disagreed with many Arab complaints about the United States. For example, he said many Arabs feel U.S. support for Israel is meant to defeat and humiliate them. He also said most Arabs are in a state of denial about Sept. 11. In one poll, only 18 percent of Arabs agreed that Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks. And while many Arabs, including Alsoudi, want Americans to withdraw from military bases in the Arab world, he acknowledged in a 2003 paper that the U.S. was invited by Arab countries to establish those bases and to provide military training to some Arab countries.

During a question-and-answer session, Alsoudi criticized Bush for waiting until the final year of his two-term presidency to actively engage in the Middle East peace process. He also called for a complete American withdrawal from Iraq and the rest of the Arab world.

"I don't think there is a need for any U.S. forces to remain in Iraq or any Arab countries," he said. "If you leave, you'll have the friendship of the Arab people and the oil. We need to end these bad feelings between the United States and Arabs."

Alsoudi said such withdrawals would not need to preclude financial aid to Israel.

"I don't care if the United States gives Israel billions of dollars or satellites," he said. "Just end the occupation."

He could not predict what would happen in Iraq if the U.S. military withdrew immediately and completely, but he called it an Iraqi problem that Iraqis are capable of solving.

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