Anybody up?
President Obama spent a busy day in Riyadh attending several meetings with various delegations and ending with a meeting with President Abdullah of Saudi Arabia for several hours. No doubt many issues were discussed that will also be addressed in his speech in Cairo, most specifically Middle East peace and Iranian nuclear proliferation. He continues to make clear his demand that Israel stop with new settlements which is always a key sticking point in Israeli/Palestinian peace negotiations.
The President sees this speech as a continuation of his engagement of the Muslim world that began with the Al Arabiya interview and continued with his Nowruz message and speech in Turkey. He intends to emphasize a new era of mutual respect and believes a candid discussion of the issues is the best approach if we are ever to develop full partnerships in the future, including violent extremism and the threat that it poses, the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan and what we're doing there, Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian issue and the broader Arab-Israeli issue. He is also expected to attempt to diffuse some misconceptions and underscore the achievements and successes of American Muslims,. But, as President Obama is known for, he will go further than discussing the conflicts that separate us, but also turn to the issues that really matter in people's lives, as he likes to say "this can't just be what we're against; it has to be what we're for and what we can do together". He intends to take that message to the Muslim world and invite engagement and communication.
Numerous media sources are expected to carry the speech, making it one of the most accessible in history. Out of the State Department, callers can register to receive free text messages oin Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and English on
http://www.america.gov/sms/html. The State Department will give the option to reply and then post the responses on the State web site. The speech will be Webcast on whitehouse.gov, but also on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter accounts, with translations. The White House reports that Facebook is the largest social network in Muslim countries and has been actively promoting the speech.
The speech will be broacast at 6:10 am Eastern Time, 20 minutes.
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