President Barack Obama will stress what the White House calls his personal commitment “based upon mutual interests and mutual respect” to strengthening USt ies to the Muslim world in a much-anticipated speech in Egypt next week. White House advisers said Friday that Obama would continue his outreach to Muslims, which began with striking words in his inaugural address, as he embarked on an overseas trip that would both commemorate the past and look to the future. Obama starts the swing Wednesday when he arrives in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He will meet King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, to discuss a range of issues, including energy, Middle East peace and terrorism. Later, Obama will head to Germany, where he will see Chancellor Angela Merkel, visit with wounded US troops at a military hospital in Landstuhl and tour the former Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald. He will close out the trip in France, where he will hold talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy, give a speech and participate in activities commemorating the 65th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Normandy on D-Day. But the centerpiece of the five-day journey comes when Obama goes to Cairo University in Egypt, to deliver his long-promised speech on US relations with the Muslim world. He also will hold talks with President Hosni Mubarak and visit a mosque. It's all the latest step in Obama's effort to repair a damaged relationship between the US and the Muslim world. “It's in need of substantial improvement,” White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. Thus, before an audience that includes people whose political viewpoints run the spectrum, advisers say Obama will discuss how the US and Muslim countries can bridge some of their differences. They say he also will talk about particular areas of concern, including violent extremism and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as opportunities for future partnerships that would be mutually beneficial for both Americans and Muslims. In a conference call with reporters, advisers underscored Egypt's history as a strategic US ally, and stressed that the United States sees opportunity in part because of the country's burgeoning younger population.
