By Bruce Odessey Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- President Bush's trade initiative for the Middle East envisions building a free trade area gradually, country by country, a senior administration official says. In a May 9 teleconference with reporters after the president's announcement of the plan, the official said the United States already has a free trade agreement (FTA) with Jordan and is negotiating one with Morocco. At some point, when a critical mass of bilateral FTAs in the Middle East and North Africa has been achieved, he said, the United States would try to fashion a single regional FTA. "Ultimately, we see this leading to a U.S.-Middle East free trade agreement," he said. "It's not something that's going to occur tomorrow or the next day but is a process with that as the ultimate goal within a decade." The official, who asked not to be identified, said that the initiative should support both economic and political stability in the region. "What we are proposing is to work with the countries at the level at which they are now" to bring them to a higher level of engagement in the world trading system, he said. With those countries already seeking World Trade Organization (WTO) accession, he said, the United States would work on achieving this goal. With those countries at a lower level of engagement, he said, the United States would work to negotiate bilateral investment treaties and to establish basic trade frameworks. The United States also would offer targeted capacity building assistance to negotiate trade agreements and carry them out, he said. The official likened the Middle East initiative to one President Bush has started with Southeast Asian countries. He mentioned that Bahrain and Egypt have expressed interest in negotiating FTAs with the United States. He said the Bush initiative aims to foster trade not only between the United States and Middle East countries but also among Middle East countries. He did not mention whether he viewed Israel as potential part of a regional FTA; the United States and Israel already have a bilateral FTA. He did say any country now participating in the Arab boycott of Israel would have to lift the boycott in order to negotiate an FTA with the United States. WTO rules prohibit participation in such a boycott, and WTO membership would have to precede any FTA, he said. Not eligible for the initiative are Pakistan and Afghanistan, which are not considered part of the Middle East, the official said.