Arab leaders were preparing for their summit next week in Algeria with a wind of democracy bringing hesistant change to some of their countries, spurred by internal and external pressure.
A year after grudgingly pledging to push ahead with reform, at their own pace, Arab leaders in several countries went ahead with changes.
Landmark municipal elections have been held in stages in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia since February. But women were barred from voting and the authorities appoint half of the members of the municipal councils.
Late last month Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak asked lawmakers to amend Egypt's constitution to allow for multi-candidate and direct presidential elections -- for the first time.
External pressure has come particularly from US President George W. Bush who devoted part of his State of the Union speech last month specifically to reform in the Middle East.
The United States would "encourage a higher standard of freedom", he said, adding that hopeful reform was already taking hold in an arc from Morocco to Jordan to Bahrain.
Bush added: "The government of Saudi Arabia can demonstrate its leadership in the region by expanding the role of its people in determining their future. And the great and proud nation of Egypt, which showed the way toward peace in the Middle East, can now show the way toward democracy in the Middle East."
Analysts point too to the elections, which were held in January in the Palestinian territories and in Iraq, even if voting, took place under foreign occupation.
Meanwhile, Kuwait has launched debates on empowering women in its male-dominated political life.
In Beirut, hundreds of thousands of Lebanese took to the streets after the assassination last month of former prime minister Rafiq Hariri demanding an end to Syria's domination of the country.
"The Arab people are thirsty for freedom. That is why we are seeing this thrust for democratic reforms. It has nothing do with resolutions adopted by Arab summits," said former Lebanese prime minister Selim Hoss, adding: "The reasons for these changes are internal.
"Thanks to satellite television channels and the Internet, the people are monitoring what is happening in the world and are beginning to be conscious of their natural rights and of freedom," he said.
Former Arab League ambassador to the United Nations Clovis Maksoud believes that "civil societies", rather than decisions by Arab leaders, triggered the bid for change in the region.
"Civil society braved their initial reluctance to face the status quo in Arab countries, prompting Arab regimes to act in order to contain further despair," said Maksoud.
The situation was encouraged by a "favourable international climate", he said, adding that the West, through its powerful media, put pressure on Arab governments to force them to respond to calls for reform.
Arab leaders who adopt summit resolutions favourable to reform are in fact trying "to exonerate themselves" while in fact never following up on their pledges, Maksoud said.
Hashem Yussef, the spokesman of the 22-member Arab League, commented: "Discussions on the need for change began before the (2004) summit in Tunis, -- an important meeting because it paved the way for a unified stand concerning reform and development."
He added: "The international climate influences what happens in our region ... and the changes taking place in the world affect us but the level of changes differs from one country to the other."
At the Tunis summit, Arab leaders adopted a 13-point programme pledging to embrace a "process of development, modernisation and reforms" according to their own pace, possibilities, culture and religious values.
In Algiers, Arab leaders are expected to evaluate the pace of reforms made in their countries while the Arab League itself is due to adopt a resolution to set up an Arab parliament, similar to the European one.