CAIRO (AFP) — US President Barack Obama discussed Middle East peace with his Egyptian host on Thursday ahead of a much-heralded address to the world's Muslims, seeking to heal a wide rift between America and Islam.
Security is tight across Cairo, with thousands of police and security agents patrolling the streets and posted on rooftops for Obama's visit, his first to the Arab world's most populous nation.
Obama, in his first meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, held talks on how to advance the stalled Middle East peace process -- a key foreign policy priority for the new US leader.
"We discussed the situation between Israel and the Palestinians. We discussed how we can move forward in a constructive way that brings about peace and prosperity for all people in the region," Obama told reporters.
"America is committed to working in partnership with the countries of the region so that all people can meet their aspirations."
Obama, who will deliver his keynote address from a university that is a hotbed of anti-US and anti-Israeli sentiment, is seeking to start a complete overhaul of the relationship between the United States and Islamic faithful.
"There has been a breach, an undeniable breach between America and the Islamic world," David Axelrod, Obama's top political advisor said.
"And that breach has been years in the making, it is not going to be reversed with one speech. It is not going to be reversed perhaps, in one administration.
"But the president is a strong believer, in open, honest dialogue."
At Cairo University, Obama is to deploy his ultra-modern new media machine to push the speech on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, aiming to maximise its impact.
Aides said Obama would describe the divides and opportunities facing Islam and America, including US efforts to confront extremism, the Afghan and Pakistan war, Iraq and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The US image in the Islamic world has been sullied by the Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal, Guantanamo Bay, the stalled peace process and the Iraq war.
Obama must also address those Americans, still stung by the September 11 attacks in 2001, who view the religion through the prism of extremism.
Yet critics warn Obama's hopes may founder, given that policies like staunch US backing of Israel that make the United States unpopular will not be changed.
"The question on the minds of people listening to Obama's speech today is, 'Is the American president willing to give up Washington's blind bias towards Israel?," said Egypt's state-owned Al-Gomhuria.
Obama has however sparred publicly with new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over West Bank settlements, an issue he sees as an impediment to stalled peace talks.
Some also question whether his trademark soaring rhetoric will conceal undercooked policies towards a region in tumult and rights groups said Obama undercut his message by speaking in Egypt where critics accuse Mubarak of repression.
Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden also took aim at Obama in a new audiotape on Wednesday, accusing him of "antagonising Muslims" and having "sowed new seeds of hatred against America."
Obama, who will also visit the ancient pyramids of Giza and and a medieval mosque in Cairo, also faces a tough sell in Egypt for his call for reconciliation.
A poll by US-based WorldPublicOpinion.org found 67 percent of Egyptians believe the United States plays a negative role in the world and 76 percent believe Washington is out to weaken and divide the Islamic world.
The president, who promised to address a major Islamic forum during his 2008 election campaign, will interweave his own story and personal ties to Islam with US foreign policy aspirations and the perilous state of a region frequently tipped into war.
Barack Hussein Obama, a Christian, has an Islamic family lineage in Kenya, and spent several years as a young boy growing up in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation.
In his speech, he is also expected to mention Iran's nuclear drive and will outline initiatives on healthcare, education and investment in the Muslim world.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
