EGYPT: State-owned media hail Obama's upcoming visit

The Egyptian press on Sunday celebrated President Barack Obama’s decision to deliver his address to the Muslim world from Egypt, hailing the move as an American acknowledgment of this nation's regional clout.

“The selection of Cairo stresses the fact that . . . Egypt is the heart of both the Arab and Muslim worlds and is the voice of reason and wisdom that helped the region overcome crises," wrote Osama Saraya, editor in chief of the semi-official Ahram daily. "Egypt is still with its Arabism and Islamic thought the most influential force. Its flag is still the most capable of bringing all Arabs and Muslims together.”

"This is a continuing effort of the president to engage the Muslim world," White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said. "The president has high hopes for a stronger relationship." Obama is expected to deliver his address on June 4. Some Muslim clerics have reportedly called upon the president to speak at al-Azhar, the oldest and most prestigious Sunni institution in the Muslim world.

In recent years, Egypt's political stature has been challenged by rising regional powers, including Iran and Turkey. For many Arab commentators, Egyptian diplomacy has waned significantly in the Middle East due to its strong alliance with Western powers at the expense of Arab interests.

“Obama’s anticipated address proves that Washington wants to open a new page with Arabs and Muslims and starts with the biggest country that holds the keys of the Palestinian question and has bridges with all factions as well as Israel,” wrote Mohamed Ali Ibrahim in the government-owned al-Gomhoreyya newspaper.

Egyptian-American relations were periodically strained under the Bush administration, which pressured Cairo to stop jailing dissidents and expand political freedoms. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak responded to such advances by canceling his routine annual visits to Washington. Yet the rise of the new administration has encouraged him to engage the White House. Mubarak is set to visit the U.S. after a five-year-long boycott this month.

Supporters of Mubarak’s regime contended that the selection of Cairo reflects an American determination to solve the Palestinian question. “This comes in the context of the clear concern of the new American administration with the question of instating peace in the Middle East and its announced determination to put an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict which stands as the main cause behind all problems in the region and the deterioration of Arab and Muslim faith in the US as an impartial mediator…” wrote Mohamed Barakat in al-Akhbar daily.  

—Noha El-Hennawy in Cairo

Photo: Obama in the front and a Cairo mosque in the background (Credit: ABC photo illustration)

 

Comments

[Farid]

Hey where exactly will presdient Obama be giving his speech. im planning to attend any body knows? please respond.

[h]

what did the muslims do that is extraordinary to deserve to be addressed? so you take down some towers and then the following administration rushes to acknowledge you? if this is diplomacy it is not good one and for once try to understand that these people think differently you are not helping yourself by doing that.

[Javad]

Yaat I am happy for you to be proud. I don't think Egypt and majority of other Arab governments want to do anything with Shias and other non Arab races, if their dictator's rhetoric's are any guide.
Shia's constitutes %15 of worldwide Moslem masses and yet they're consider to be heretics and enemies, native Africans Moslems or not are being slathered by Arabs in Sudan, terror Moslem groups are being operated by Arab States from Afghanistan and Central Asia all the way in to Somalia and East Africa, South and East Asian Moslems are being used as slaves while few Arabs are building their sand castles in Persian Gulf.
Egypt and other Arab government haven't unite with each other for fellow Sunni Arab Palestinians well being and you expect them to unite with non Arab states? unfortunately not with current Arab regimes, they're just barley holding to power and petrodollars for their families and cronies with help from imperial western powers.

[yaat]

I'm from Egypt. I can tell you such visit is perceived by Egyptians as an extreme honor. Obama is the people's hero wherever he goes; Europe, Mid East, Asia. His message is to unite and not divide. It doesn't matter which country he chose for his address. The message is addressed to all Muslims not only to Egyptians. So "Javad", it shouldn't be a matter of friction that he didn't go to Indonesia. we should start learning how to unite

[Javad]

Obama's upcoming address to the Muslim world will be more appropriate in Indonesia since it have a largest Moslem population in world and having a freely elected government with high standard of living, beside his speech in Indonesia will cut across different sects and races in Moslem world and won't promote racial dictatorial regimes.
Obama's speech in Egypt going to be perceive as a political support for his Arab clients rather than a speech to all Moslems who are not happens to be Arabs and don't accept such %15 minorities with such a human right violations record within Moslem world as the just authority!