WASHINGTON - Lebanese Christian opposition leader Michel Aoun said on Tuesday that his country represents the best chance for democracy to prevail in the Middle East because of its historical experience with elections and women's rights.

"Lebanon is the one place in the Middle East where democracy can flourish in the near term," Aoun said in speech to the National Press Club in Washington.

"In Lebanon, we have been electing our own governments since the turn of the century. Women have had equal rights since the foundation of the Lebanese state. The culture of democracy does not have to be created in Lebanon. To the contrary, it is inherent in our character.

"Therefore, if democracy fails in Lebanon, it can never succeed in Iraq or elsewhere in the Middle East."

Aoun won a seat in parliament in June after returning from 15 years in exile in France following the departure of Syrian troops from Lebanon. A former commander of the Lebanese army, Aoun served as interim prime minister in two governments that vied for power in the final years of the Lebanese civil war.

Aoun, who enjoys excellent relations with Washington, said Lebanon could provide a democratic example to counter the influence of Islamic extremists such as Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

"If we are going to defeat the quest of bin Laden and Zarqawi, if you are to replace the culture of terrorists with that culture of openness and pluralism, we must show that a Middle Eastern democracy can work. And Lebanon is the best chance."

He said building democracy in Iraq was akin to "planting a seed of democracy in barren soil."

Aoun praised recent US and international diplomatic efforts demanding Syria respect Lebanon's sovereignty. "We think that the policies adopted by the United States so far have been excellent," he said.

Aoun expressed optimism that Hezbollah, which was founded in 1982 to oppose Israel's presence in southern Lebanon, would disarm its militias and evolve into a purely political organization. The new Lebanese government includes a Hezbollah member in the cabinet for the first time though the US and Israel regard Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.

Aoun said "the fears that Hezbollah is raising and using as an excuse for not giving up or disarming -- those fears we are able and capable of dissipating them."

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