What Obama must achieve in Egypt today

Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East is not going to get the airtime that this momentous occasion should get but it is worth focusing on some of the issues that need to be tackled.

Over at Open Democracy,Nader Hashemi writes that his speech in Egypt requires three things to bring on board the sceptical Muslim audience that he will address.

1.that it should be a townhall-style meeting with everyday Egyptian citizens.

The symbolic value of such an event cannot be overstated. The sight of an American president, in open and uncensored dialogue with ordinary Muslims, will go a long way towards demonstrating respect for the Islamic world.

2.that it must address the key topic in the Arab world which is Palestine and

3.

Obama must be prepared to offend - albeit indirectly - his Egyptian hosts. There is a pungency in the leader of the "free world" delivering a major speech to Muslims in one of the least free parts of the world. Hosni Mubarak is one of the most despised as well as one of the longest-standing dictators in the Arab world - a status owed to a mix of his close alliance with the United States, his security forces' internal repression and his collusion with Israel in maintaining the siege of Gaza.