Manama, Bahrain ? A U.S.-backed summit meant to promote political freedom and economic change in the Middle East ended Saturday without agreement, a blow to President Bush’s goals for the troubled region.

A draft declaration on democratic and economic principle was shelved after Egypt insisted on language that would have given Arab governments greater control over which democracy groups receive money from a new fund.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also used the conference to send a message to Syrians chafing under authoritarian rule, saying Washington backs their “aspirations for liberty, democracy and justice under the rule of law.”

Bush hosted a coming-out party for the Forum for the Future last year at Sea Island, Ga., and the U.S. is putting up half of the $100 million in a venture capital fund for economic development launched at this year’s gathering.

The White House had hoped the conference would showcase political progress in a part of the world long dominated by monarchies and single-party rule, and spread goodwill for the U.S.

American officials seemed startled that an ally, Egypt, threw up a roadblock.

Egypt receives nearly $2 billion annually in U.S. aid, second only to Israel. The country held its first multiparty elections this year, but remains under the firm control of President Hosni Mubarak.

Rice chose Egypt as the site for a widely noted June speech promoting democracy. An earlier visit was postponed in a dispute over the jailing of a democracy activist, who was later released.

The disappointing outcome at the conference followed a rocky summit a week ago in Argentina, when Bush got a cold shoulder from some Latin American leaders, failed to win consensus on a free trading bloc for the Western Hemisphere and endured biting criticism from anti-U.S. protesters and Venezuela’s leftist president, Hugo Chavez.

Many Middle East nations are wary of Bush’s second-term democracy agenda for the region. Some organizations that the administration has tried to engage are reluctant to take money from the U.S.

“It would be a disaster for this region if the region thought democracy is an American idea,” British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said at the closing news conference, where the final agreement had been expected to be released.

“America is a great country but democracy was born in Greece, just across the Mediterranean,” from the Middle East, Straw said.

As intended, the 36-nation session launched a $100 million venture capital fund to promote economic enterprise. The fund includes $50 million from the United States, with contributions from Egypt, Morocco and Denmark.