Respect for Islam, a prescription for Palestinian statehood and assurances of a speedy U.S. pullout from Iraq -- that's what Muslims from Morocco to Malaysia say they want to hear from President Barack Obama this week when he addresses them from this Arab capital.His speech Thursday from Cairo University will try to soften the fury toward the United States among so many of the world's 1.5 billion Muslims, ignited by the U.S. occupation of Iraq and the hands-off attitude toward the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of his predecessor George W. Bush.
Obama's offer of a new beginning is seen as an attempt to stem the growing influence of extremists -- particularly Iran, with its regional and nuclear ambitions -- and to bolster moderate Muslim allies.
It comes just days ahead of crucial elections in Lebanon and Iran -- where the appeal of militancy will be put to the test -- and amid worsening violence in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The American leader's soaring oratory and Muslim roots have kindled hope among Muslims. But they will judge him by his actions, not his words, said 20-year-old Mohammed Wasel, sipping sugar cane juice with friends after mosque prayers in Cairo's Abbasiya neighborhood.
"There will be a lot of talk, but I seriously want to see something real coming out of this speech, something tangible," Wasel said, expressing a view shared by an Eritrean social worker in Rome, a retired teacher in Baghdad and a Palestinian mayor in the West Bank.
Obama "has to walk the talk," said social activist Marina Mahathir, daughter of Malaysia's former prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad.
But with rising hopes come the risk of disappointment. Obama isn't expected to present a detailed vision of a Mideast peace deal -- potentially the most effective antidote to anti-Western sentiment -- until later.
And there is doubt the U.S. president can change entrenched foreign policy, particularly what is perceived in the Muslim world as Washington's pro-Israeli bias. What Muslims see as America's repeated failure to hold Israel to its international obligations is a sore point. A construction freeze in Israeli West Bank settlements -- Obama wants it, Israel rejects it -- is shaping up as a major test.