President Obama is planning to deliver a highly anticipated speech to the Muslim world in Cairo next week. Aya Batrawy reports on what Egyptians are hoping to hear from Mr. Obama.
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MARCO WERMAN: I'm Marco Werman. This is The World. Next week, President Obama delivers a highly anticipated speech reaching out to the Islamic world. The speech is the latest US attempt to counter anti-American sentiment in Muslim countries. Since the 9/11 attacks and the war in Iraq, Americans have been hearing a lot about public opinion in Muslim countries. In a few minutes, we'll hear about changes in Muslim attitudes toward the US since the election of Barack Obama. But first, Mr. Obama chose Egypt as the site for his speech next week, and Egyptians have been making much of that decision. Correspondent Aya Batrawy went onto the streets of Cairo to find out what people there hope to hear from the American president.
AYA BATRAWY: In an affluent neighborhood of Cairo, local residents gather for a block party. Young women smoking cigarettes sit alongside women dressed conservatively in headscarves. It's this balance between modernity and tradition that makes Egypt the ideal place for President Obama to deliver his speech to the Muslim world, says political analyst Gamal Sultan.
GAMAL SULTAN: Egypt is a better representation for the mainstream in the Muslim world than any other country. In fact, Egypt is a country that is Islamic enough in terms of values and culture to be a real part of the Muslim world and at the same time is secular enough to belong to the 20th and 21st century.
BATRAWY: Egypt has long been viewed as the intellectual, cultural, and political power of the Arab world, but Egypt's influence in the region has been waning in recent years. Many have criticized Egypt's government for repressive and anti-democratic measures. Still, people here say Egypt was the obvious choice for the Obama speech. Ali Muhammad stands at a busy bus stop near his university. He's a Nigerian student who's come to Cairo to study Islam at the historic Al-Azhar University. He's looking forward to the speech. When asked what he's hoping to hear from President Obama, he voices a familiar refrain.
ALI MUHAMMAD: I personally speak on behalf of my Muslim brothers when I say all parties must solve the international and regional crisis of Palestinians first and foremost.
BATRAWY: Political analyst Walid Kazziha says Mr. Obama's speech won't succeed in reaching Muslim hearts unless he addresses the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. But Kazziha worries that in order to get cooperation on Israel, this White House won't press Arab leaders hard enough on democratic reforms.
WALID KAZZIHA: I think the Obama administration is willing to give priority to a solution or a settlement on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, rather than to provoke the Arab regional powers by introducing the question of democratization.
BATRAWY: And there's concern among some rights advocates that Mr. Obama's decision to deliver his speech in Cairo might send a signal to the government here that democracy in Egypt doesn't matter as much as US strategic interests in the region. But blogger Hossam el-Hamalawy says you can't have peace until you have democracy.
HOSSAM EL-HAMALAWY: The road to Jerusalem passes through Cairo. We have to liberate Cairo first before we liberate Jerusalem.
BATRAWY: Back at the block party, some say they don't have high hopes for Mr. Obama's speech. Mohamed Hamza is a young professional with the heavy beard of a religious conservative. He says the President's overture to the Muslim world will do little to change reality on the ground.
MOHAMED HAMZA: My perception is that he is here just for publicity. He is not here to change the world or change Egypt in a two-hour seminar. I don't think that will happen.
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