Muslim world looks to Obama

Arab leaders, according to one commentator, are being asked "to swallow more" to appease Obama's initiative -- a request that so far is receiving a cool response. Such a scenario, however, would give Israel a measure of regional security during its negotiations with the Palestinians. It could also neutralize Iran, whose nuclear program and influence from Iraq to the Gaza Strip have perturbed the U.S., Israel and Arab regimes.

Dome is polished

Those questions will linger over Obama's remarks at Cairo University, which sits in the middle of this dusty, polluted metropolis of 18 million people. Streets have been scoured for bombs and swept of trash. The university's dome has been hand polished, and newly arrived potted plants and flowers have brightened surrounding neighborhoods -- quickly fixed facades for a nation whose regional stature has been slipping.

In a sense, Obama is coming to the political and cultural heart of the old Arab world, the capital where the dream of pan-Arabism flared briefly and died generations ago. Cairo is a snapshot of the dilemmas America faces throughout the region. President Hosni Mubarak is a close American ally who has stayed in power more than 27 years by arresting and silencing opponents.

When Mubarak took office, Obama was a political science major at Columbia University. Since then the domestic policies and visions of America's friends, such as Mubarak, have been attacked by a new generation that wants change. What Obama says to the Egyptians will resonate with a wider Muslim audience angry about Washington's support for Middle East governments that reject American values.

"Obama must distance himself from the practices and logics of Arab governments," said Bahi Eddin Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. "If he does not express himself clearly on human rights, he might be misunderstood as a supporter of oppression."

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jeffrey.fleishman@latimes.com

Times staff writer Richard Boudreaux in Jerusalem and Amro Hassan of The Times' Cairo Bureau contributed to this report.