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Obama to reach out to Muslims in Egypt speech

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-10 09:12

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama will deliver a much anticipated speech to the Muslim world in Egypt next month, seeking to repair ties that were severely damaged under his predecessor George W. Bush.

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Many Arab and Muslim nations were angered by the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects at Guantanamo, abuse of prisoners in Iraq and Bush's initial reluctance to pursue Israeli-Palestinian peace.

Obama's Egypt trip fulfills a promise he made during his presidential campaign to give a major address to Muslims from a Muslim capital during the first few months in office.

The Muslim world will be watching to see his approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Most Muslims believed Bush's policies toward the region were biased in favor of Israel.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters on Friday the speech would be delivered in Egypt on June 4 but did not say whether it would be in the Egyptian capital Cairo.

US President Barack Obama waves to CIA employees prior to speaking during a visit to the Central Intelligence Agency headquarters in Langley, Virginia, in April 2009. [Agencies]

The country has been a key partner for Washington in decades of efforts to secure Middle East peace and is one of the biggest recipients of US military and economic aid.

But the choice of Egypt could potentially overshadow the substance of Obama's speech, and Gibbs found himself on the defensive over the issue at a White House news conference.

"It is a country that in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world," Gibbs said.

"The scope of the speech, the desire for the president to speak (to the Muslim world), is bigger than where the speech was going to be given or who's the leadership of the country where the speech is going to be given," he said.

Egypt's ambassador to the United States, Sameh Shoukry, said his country offered Obama a good venue because of its large population, intellectual traditions and "values of moderate Islam."

"The true nature of Islam lies in its moderate heart, not at its radical fringes. Egypt is very hopeful that President Obama's speech will mark a watershed in America's relations with the Muslim world," Shoukry said in a statement.

"It is important that America's relations with the Muslim world be based on mutual respect and understanding," he added. "Egypt stands ready to work with President Obama and his administration towards that objective, in accordance with our long-standing friendship."

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