Obama Urges "New Beginning" With Muslims

In Long-Awaited Speech From Cairo, President Confronts Tensions With Muslim World

(CBS/AP) 
Before the speech, Mr. Obama met privately with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on a range of topics. Chief among them: Iran's suspected efforts to build a nuclear bomb and the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

In brief remarks, Mr. Obama said they spoke about "how we could move forward in a constructive way to bring about peace and prosperity to all people in the region." He said he emphasized that "America is committed to working in partnership with countries of the region so that all people can meet their aspirations."

Mubarak added: "We opened all topics with no reservations."

After spending the night at Saudi King Abdullah's horse farm in the desert outside Riyadh, Mr. Obama arrived at Egypt's imposing, ornate Qubba Palace on a lush property in the middle of Cairo with nearly two dozen horses leading his motorcade down the wide, palm-lined palace drive.

Mr. Obama's brief stay in the city also included a visit to the Sultan Hassan mosque, a 600-year-old center of Islamic worship and study, and a tour of the Great Pyramids of Giza on the capital's outskirts. Aides said the schedule also would afford Mr. Obama time to talk to Egyptian journalists and young people.

By the time Mr. Obama had arrived, some of Cairo's main thoroughfares, normally packed with cars in the morning rush, were near empty. Many residents chose to stay home rather than try to navigate the sprawling city of 18 million with the heavy traffic restrictions.

The independent newspaper Al-Dustour ran a front-page banner headline that read: "Today Obama visits Egypt after evacuating it of Egyptians." Another paper's headline said: "Cairo closed."

Some major streets around areas Mr. Obama was visiting were closed to traffic and lined with police in white uniforms and central security forces. Sidewalks and bridges around the airport road and the presidential palace were freshly painted and cleaned. Near the Sultan Hassan mosque, Egyptian authorities moved an entire bus station to keep crowds far away. Traffic police spread flyers to let drivers know which roads were closed.

Even though he's been promising this speech since the election campaign, in recent days Mr. Obama has sought to downplay it.

"One speech is not going to solve all the problems in the Middle East," he told a French interviewer. "Expectations should be somewhat modest."

Yet there was little doubt Muslims were listening closely. From the souk stalls of Baghdad to the Internet cafes in Jakarta, Indonesia, where Mr. Obama spent part of his youth, Muslims sought to parse the words of the first American president, whose father was one of their own.

And lest any miss Mr. Obama's outreach, the tech-savvy White House planned a communications onslaught: a live Webcast of the speech on the White House site; remarks translated into 13 languages; a special State Department site where users could sign up to get - and answer - speech highlights; and plans to push excerpts out to social networking giants MySpace, Twitter and Facebook. (Read more about the effort here.)

Though the speech was co-sponsored by al-Azhar University, which has taught science and Quranic scripture here for nearly a millennium, the actual venue was the more modern and secular Cairo University.

Red draperies formed a backdrop for the speech, blocking view of a portrait of Mubarak, an aging autocrat who's ruled Egypt since 1981.

"Egypt's democrats cannot help being concerned," wrote Dina Guirguis, executive director of Voices for a Democratic Egypt. (Read more about human rights in Egpyt and Saudi Arabia here.)

The university's alumni are among the Arab world's most famous - and notorious. They include the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Nobel Prize-winning author Naguib Mahfuz. Saddam Hussein studied law in the '60s but did not graduate. And al Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri earned a medical degree.

Obama's Trip To The Middle East And Europe:

[josi7]

for crescentgirl... Aren't you looking at the wrong flag? Are you from another country? Why should we need to know about Islam or Muslims as Chrisyians? I am stars and stripes and I know about the Bible. You should get to know what the Bible says about the Jews. He calls Isreal His land, like it or not. And there is more to the story. READ THE BOOK A FROM FRONT TO BACK , BEGINING TO END. PRAY FOR PEACE AND THOSE WHO PROFESS TO BE THE PEACEMAKER. aLSO THOSE WHO ARE SO BLIND THEY CANNOT SEE.

[Audacity_of_Deception]

If history has taught us anythiing...it has taught us that where there is opression...there is always rebellion from the oppressed.
Posted by crescentgirl

You're right, just like the oppressed Israelis who have been defending themselves against Muslim jihadists for 60 plus years now. Jihad loses in the end, crescent girl.

If you want TRUE peace, seek Jesus Christ, Lord and Savior of all, and the Truth will set you free.

Islam will never give you that assurance.

[Audacity_of_Deception]

Please educate yourselves on Islam prior to making any comments because it is obvious that you do not know anything about Islam or Muslims for that matter
posted by crescentgirl

-I agree, more people SHOULD educate themselves on Islam and actually READ the Quran, then they would see the deception, hate, and evil that it is.

Walid Shoebat, a former PLO terrorist, exposes the hatred he was taught towards Jews and Christians in Islam and the propaganda he was brainwashed to believe in. He is now a born again Christians and speaks out against the evils of Islam.

www.shoebat.com

[Audacity_of_Deception]

Maybe I will see world peace in my lifetime!
Posted by eroosevelt08

If the anti-Christ takes the throne in Jerusalem, you will, but only for 3 1/2 years and only under his rules. Then all hell's going to break loose in the holy land.

Your choice to sit back and wait. But don't say you weren't warned.

[eroosevelt08]

I was a pretty strong Hillary Clinton fan and I am delighted that she is the Secretary of State.

I am now also an extremely strong Obama supporter. Communicating with people who hate us? So simple and yet absolutely brilliant. Talking can change many things!

Maybe I will see world peace in my lifetime!

[HGOODGUY]

THE PRESIDENT TALKS AND PEOPLE LISTEN

THE PEOPLE TALK AND THE PRESIDENT LISTENS

WHAT A CONCEPT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[crescentgirl]

To Audacity and all those others that spread hate on this board...to you i say Bah Humbug!!! Please educate yourselves on Islam prior to making any comments because it is obvious that you do not know anything about Islam or Muslims for that matter. Your comments and thinking process is no better than those extremests that you speak of. I, am happy that Mr. Obama is at least trying to have a dialogue with other nations and peoples...it's more than we can say for you. Peace is achieved through understanding one another and working together. As far as the Palestinian issue goes, peace, unfortunately, is an ellusive thing in this region and will continue to be until we take stock of what is really going and the world stops turning it's back on the Palestinian people. If history has taught us anythiing...it has taught us that where there is opression...there is always rebellion from the oppressed.

[revlin1]

And we consider it OUR PATRIOTIC DUTY to clear up all the questions regarding this guys occupancy of our White House. HOW DID HE GET THERE? (unqualified and all?) When the Dems wake up from this nightmare they call CHANGE NO ONE BELIEVES IN there won't be enough SOUP in the soup lines....!
NEGATIVE STEROTYPES ALRIGHT....BARRY needs to begin with Wright, Ayers, Rezko, Axelrod, Emmanuel, Jarrett....etc. , etc....college records, birth certificate, Michelle's thesis, Once those things and people are cleared up, WE MIGHT just listen for a moment or two to a guy who is way beyond arrogant or ignorant..(we cannot tell which will surface on any given day) DO OUR TROOPS FEEL SUPPORTED?

[hakori]

kcstan11 ...........the way the Israelis have treated the Palestineans is uncivilized and-in my opinion-inhuman; but unlike you, I think all people have the right to exist! I belive all people have a right to a homeland., and the Palestineans will have theres relatively soon. But what you believe is evil!

[hakori]

kcstan11 .........the only mess is the one in your head!!!!!!!!!!!!!!