CAIRO: US President Barack Obama will make his long heralded address to the Muslim world from Egypt next June, the White House announced, though the city was not specified.

During his presidential campaign, Obama promised to address the Muslim world from a Muslim country within months of taking office with the aim of mending the US image after the travails of the Bush administration.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs defended the choice to hold the speech in Egypt, which, according to the American State Department, has “significant restrictions on the political process and freedom of expression.”

Gibbs said, “It is a country that in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world. I think it will be a terrific opportunity for the president to address and discuss our relationship with the Muslim world.”

Editor-in-chief of the state-run Al-Ahram newspaper Osama Saraya wrote in Sunday’s edition that Obama’s choice of Egypt was an “admission of the truth and depth of [Egypt’s] wise political vision in solving the problems between East and West.”

“Obama comes to Egypt while there are forces in the region trying with all its might to convince the world it is more suited for this role,” Saraya wrote.

Emad Gad from Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies told Daily News Egypt, “Obama has no problem with non-Arab Islamic countries; those who have issues with the US are Arab countries. If he is to look for a country, Egypt would be the most suitable because it needs to be an ally. He will not go to Saudi Arabia because it is a religious state. Egypt is partly secular and partly religious and generally moderate.

“Talk of democracy and human rights will not be heard like in the days of the Bush administration. They might try another approach in regards to that, but no more will there be talk of punishments.”

Obama’s decision to plump for Egypt might be seen as tact approval for the regime of President Hosni Mubarak after years of tenuous relations with the US during the Bush administration.

Mubarak is also due to visit the US on May 26 with Obama coming June 4.

“The regime is promoting Obama’s visit as recognition of it, and that is partly true but regarding what? Regarding US policy, because the regime is important for American interests in the region,” coordinator of the Kefaya movement for change Abdel-Halim Qandeel told Daily News Egypt.

“The regime views American acceptance as paramount, as it is undemocratically elected, so it has replaced the electorate with the approval of Tel Aviv and Washington,” he said.

“As for the American administration, we must make a distinction that Obama might be good for the Americans but no one said he is good for us. So it is not a surprise and no one from the opposition ever said that change in Egypt will come from the office of the American president, in fact the US is an obstacle to change in Egypt and the Arab world,” Qandeel added. 

The US might also tread a fine line with the speech considering Egypt’s human rights record, but activists in Egypt have no expectations that the US will be an ally in combating this.

“I don’t think it’s a bad choice, not withstanding Egypt’s poor human rights record,” Hossam Bahgat from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights told Daily News Egypt, “Frankly we think it actually makes sense that the speech is given from a place that exhibits serious need for change.”

“It makes little sense for the speech to be given from a place that already has a functioning democracy and a positive human rights record. The speech will have more impact when it is made from a place that showcases a need for a serious political will for reform,” he continued.

“We have learned from the previous administration that reform in Egypt is our concern, and our job and we have no illusions about what Obama can achieve with his speech or throughout his tenure, so we do not expect promises to be made here,” Bahgat added, “but we hope that the speech will not cause any damage to the work that we’re doing, so we trust that the speech will be carefully crafted to avoid sending any wrong signals to Mubarak’s regime and his 28 years in charge.” 

The Arab League expressed its hope that Obama’s speech would highlight concrete steps in the Middle East peace process.

“We expect the US president to announce his policy towards the Israeli-Arab conflict during his visit to Egypt,” Arab League assistant secretary general Hisham Yousef told AFP, “by then he will have listened to the parties to the conflict and so will be able to spell out his policy.”

The outlawed opposition Muslim Brotherhood labeled Obama’s visit “useless” unless US foreign policy was dramatically changed. The group’s deputy head Mohamed Habib said in a statement, “The US administration is attempting to recruit all the Arab states … to implement its permanent agenda that favors the Zionist entity.”

“Making real change in the region depends on having our own will and the confidence to force others to respect us,” he added.
 
Habib later told Daily News Egypt, “It is known in politics that the US administration is not a charity but always seeks to achieve its agenda and interests. So it is cautious to benefit from all the cards it has. The Egyptian regime has it role in the Arab and Islamic world so if the US administration can use it to improve its image and achieve its interests, that will be good for them.

“Whether the regime will be able to use this in turn for its advantage, this is difficult to say right now,” he added “I don’t place much onus on speeches but actions on the ground so if this visit is not preceded by change in American policy especially regarding Palestine, then I view the visit as useless.”