Tag Archives: Cairo

Mubarak visits White House

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President Obama met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today to “publicly thank him for the extraordinary hospitality that he showed us when I traveled to Egypt and delivered my speech at Cairo University,” Obama said.

During that June speech, Obama spoke of a “new beginning” between the United States and the Muslim world. “The importance of the Cairo visit was very appreciated by the Muslim and Islamic world, because the Islamic world had thought that the U.S. was against Islam, but [Obama’s] great, fantastic address there has removed all those doubts,” Mubarak said through a translator.

The leaders discussed the situations in Iran and Iraq, the Arab-Israeli conflict and economic development, among other topics. While they can cooperate on many projects, Obama acknowledged that there are areas of disagreement.

“There are some areas where we still have disagreements, and where we do have disagreements we have a frank and honest exchange,” Obama said.

What do you think of the leaders’ comments? Did Obama’s speech remove doubt about relations between the United States and Islam? Can these nations have a frank and honest exchange over issues on which they disagree?

Poll suggest opportunity for Obama to reach out to Arab world

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A recent McClatchy/Ipsos poll presented an interesting finding: in six Arab countries, the percentage of citizens with positive opinions of President Obama is higher than the percentage of those with positive opinions of the United States.

For example, about 53 percent of Saudis have a positive opinion of Obama, compared with 38 percent who say the same about the United States. “Because of this, there is an opportunity for the president to literally ‘bridge the gap’ where his repository of goodwill lifts the goodwill towards America,” Ipsos writes.

Not surprisingly, this poll is getting attention in Arab countries. This suggests Obama has a window of opportunity, the Daily Star of Lebanon writes in an editorial. “Armed with his credibility ‘surplus,’ Obama must put forward a policy – not talking points and lofty rhetoric, but the mechanism, the real-world deal – that’s serious enough to succeed, because the alternative is all too clear: skyrocketing hatred and violent outcomes that we in the region have absolutely no capacity to tolerate anymore,” the paper states. “The window of opportunity won’t last forever.”

Many are eagerly anticipating the president’s June 4 speech in Cairo, looking to see how he will speak to an Arab audience. What should the president say during this speech?