The president arrives today in Saudi Arabia to confer with
King Abdullah. He travels tomorrow to Cairo to deliver a speech
White Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said yesterday would be aimed
at “resetting our relationship with the Muslim world.”In Saudi Arabia, energy, Middle East peace and combating
extremism will be at the top of the agenda. “It’s a commercial
relationship as well as a strategic relationship,” Obama said
May 28.The Muslim world is made up of over 50 countries,” said
Hady Amr, director of the Brookings Institution’s Doha Center in
Qatar who was an Obama adviser during the campaign. “The Muslim
world has right-wing conservatives who cheer when al-Qaeda
succeeds, centrists who support the regimes, and progressives
who want to see the region be a more progressive, open place.Mr. Obama isn’t expected to promise anything sweeping, and will instead
focus on concrete measures that underscore the changes in tone and
intent between the two administrations, say U.S. officials.Barack Obama’s goal is to improve perceptions of the US and to push for
a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians, says BBC Diplomatic
Correspondent Jonathan Marcus.