US President Obama in Egypt seeking to heal rift with Islam

Security was 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.

He flew in aboard Air Force One after a visit to Saudi Arabia, where he held talks on Middle East peacemaking, Iran and energy issues with King Abdullah.

Obama, who is meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and will then tour the pyramids of Giza, 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 maximize 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.

"What you’ll see is a robust discussion of how to make progress and how to finally break this stalemate," White House speechwriter Ben Rhodes said, although Obama is not expected to unveil a major initiative to resolve the decades-old Middle East conflict.

The U.S. 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 U.S. 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.

Others question whether his trademark soaring rhetoric will conceal undercooked policies towards a region in tumult and human 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 "antagonizing Muslims" and having "sowed new seeds of hatred against America."

But his words were dismissed by the White House as a futile bid to steal the president’s moment.
Obama also faces a tough sell in Egypt for his call for reconciliation.

A poll by U.S.-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.

Obama promised to address a major Islamic forum during his 2008 campaign, and expectations have mounted ever since, especially across the region where he is more popular than the nation he leads, polls show.

The president will interweave his own story and personal ties to Islam with U.S. 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.

He arrived in the Middle East after sparring publicly with new Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over West Bank settlements, an issue he sees as an impediment to stalled peace talks.

Aides said Obama had thrown himself into the speech, consulted Muslim Americans widely on its content, and was tinkering with the final draft "down to the wire" Wednesday night.