At the end of a visit that started around 9am Cairo local time and lasted for over eight hours, US President Barack Obama left Egypt for Germany for the remainder of a Middle East-Europe tour that started Wednesday in Saudi Arabia and will end Saturday in France, Dina Ezzat reports During his stay in Cairo Obama held talks with President Hosni Mubarak on a range of regional issues, especially the ways of restarting Palestinian-Israeli talks and the situation in Iraq, Iran and a little beyond, in Afghanistan. The Mubarak-Obama talks followed a grand reception accorded by Mubarak to his guest at the Quba Palace . They started with a tete-a-tete that lasted for 50 minutes and were later expanded to include a senior delegation from both sides that included Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and his opposite number Hillary Clinton, among others. The talks, as both presidents said in brief remarks, were conducive and wide-ranging. Consultations between Cairo and Washington are set to intensify in the coming weeks and months. Obama said he was looking forward to working closely "for months and years to come" with President Mubarak to bring about regional peace and stability. The highlight of the Obama visit to Cairo, however, was his 55-minute speech at Cairo University. Originally qualified as the message of the US president to the Muslim world, the speech was in fact a scene setter of Obama's policies on the Middle East. Judging by what Obama offered to a diverse and loudly applauding audience of 3,000, the current US administration has a priority to contain the Taliban in Afghanistan. It is committed to withdrawing from Iraq and to bring a form of peace to the Middle East that would allow the Palestinians to eventually have a state of some sort. It is also keen to seek a peaceful end to confrontation with "the Islamic Republic of Iran" over its nuclear programme. Moreover, it would pursue the sensitive and cautious promotion of democracy and human rights ñ including the rights of minorities such as Maronites and Copts in Arab and Muslim countries while working closely with the governments of these countries to promote development and economic prosperity. Above all, Obama's speech at Cairo University underlined what he stated out loud: the pursuit of "a new beginning" of relations between Muslims and the US on the basis of "mutual interests and mutual respect. "I know there are many -- Muslim and non-Muslim -- who question whether we can forge this new beginning. Some are eager to stoke the flames of division and to stand in the way of progress," Obama said. "We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world -- tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate," Obama said in the address that included four quotes from Islam's holy Qur'an which testify to Islam's commitment to peace and tolerance. "I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect," he said. " America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition," Obama added. He stressed that "this cycle of suspicion and discord must end." The US president promised to promote cross-cultural ties with Islamic countries. "We will expand exchange programmes and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America, while encouraging more Americans to study in Muslim communities."
