Obama arrives in Saudi Arabia to begin outreach to Muslim world (video)
Today President Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia on a trip that begins as a major outreach to the Muslim world.
This is a four-day trip, and aides say the highlight comes Thursday in Cairo: President Obama will deliver a speech to the Islamic world from a major Muslim capital, something he’d promised as a candidate.
King Abdullah will raise concerns about U.S. outreach to Shiite Iran,
the prospects for mid-east peace and the President’s push for energy alternatives to oil.
The President wants Saudi Arabia to accept prisoners from Guantanamo Bay.
From Riyadh the Oresident travels to Cairo for a speech aimed at the region’s Muslims.
Expectations of the new U.S. President are high.
Barack Obama’s father was Muslim.
He’s promised to close Guantanamo and pull troops from Iraq.
“I would say we should give him a chance like eighty percent hope that it will be resolved, the troubles in the region that will be resolved given the fact that he promised message of change,” said political analyst Dr. Mohammad Al-Qahtani.
The counter message has come already.
Al Qaeda’s number two said the President’s speech won’t change the quote bloody messages of the U.S. in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The White House does not expect sudden reversal.
“We don’t expect that everything will change after one speech. It will take a sustained effort,” said White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs.
The president will end his trip in Europe, to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion.
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