June 4 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama arrived in Cairo today for a speech that aides say will address the hurdles to U.S. relations with the Muslim world as well the opportunities for closer engagement.

Obama plans to touch on hot-button issues in his remarks at Cairo University, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, violent extremism and the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, according to Ben Rhodes, the president’s speechwriter.

“He feels it’s important to speak very openly and candidly about the very full range of issues that have caused some tensions between the United States and the Muslim world, and then also present a great deal of opportunity for partnership in the future,” Rhodes told reporters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, the first stop on Obama’s five-day, four-nation overseas trip.

Obama is making the speech as part of an effort to lift U.S. standing with Muslims at a moment when the administration is working to reignite the Middle East peace process, waging war against Islamic insurgents in two countries and battling to choke off support for al-Qaeda and other terrorists.

Obama arrived at Cairo airport just after 9 a.m. today, was met by Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and whisked away in a black limousine to meet with President Hosni Mubarak before the speech at Cairo University. His motorcade was flanked by ceremonial military horsemen.

The meeting, which last about 20 minutes, touched on “all problems here in the region,” including “everything related to Iran,” Mubarak told reporters through a translator.

‘Constructive Way’

“We discussed the situation between Israel and the Palestinians,” Obama said. “We discussed how we can move forward in a constructive way that brings about peace and prosperity for all people in the region.”

The address fulfills an Obama campaign promise to deliver a major speech from a Muslim country early in his presidency. It’s the centerpiece of a trip that also includes visits to key U.S. allies: Saudi Arabia, Germany and France.

Obama’s advisers highlighted the significance of the speech while playing down expectations of results.

“The president has obviously been focused on the speech for a long time, dating back to the campaign,” Rhodes said, adding that it “is one step, not the final step” in the effort to engage.

Still, the speech represents a major opportunity for Obama if only because of the great anticipation that has been built up, according to Stephen Grand, director of the Washington-based Brookings Institution’s project on U.S. relations with the Islamic world.

Global Audience

“He’ll have millions of Muslims throughout the world tuning in from living rooms and coffee houses,” Grand said.

The administration is taking unprecedented steps to ensure the address reaches the widest audience possible.

Copies of the speech will be available in Arabic, Persian, Urdu, Hebrew and at least nine other languages. A video also will be available on the White House Web site.

The State Department is supplying free text messages of the speech at http://www.america.gov/sms.html, with the option to reply with comments to the State Department. Those will be posted on its Web site.

“Our goal is to start a constructive dialogue,” senior Obama adviser David Axelrod said.

The U.S. also is tapping the global social network of Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Facebook is the largest social network in Muslim countries, reaching almost 20 million users, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Obama Outreach

The utilization of social networking, as well as the address itself, is intended to reach a group that the president continues to address directly as part of his outreach: Muslim youths, Denis McDonough, White House deputy national security adviser, said.

Egypt “like much of the Muslim world, itself is a young country with a burgeoning younger population that the president looks very much forward to engaging directly in his speech,” McDonough told reporters last week.

Before heading to Cairo, Obama held discussions yesterday with Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah on issues including the Middle East, energy and extremism.

“We have a strategic relationship and as I take this trip, and will be visiting Cairo tomorrow, I thought it was very important to come to the place where Islam began and to seek his majesty’s counsel,” Obama said before the start of a private meeting with the king.

The quest for peace in the Middle East, energy issues, Iran’s nuclear program and combating extremism were at the top of Obama’s agenda with the Saudi monarch, McDonough told reporters in Riyadh. “This is a very broad dialogue,” he said.

Afghanistan, Pakistan

The two men also discussed the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to an administration statement that provided no other details. Their talk was scheduled for two hours 15 minutes and lasted about three hours.

“In relations with the Saudis, that personal relationship between the president and the monarch is critical,” said Stephen Hadley, who was White House national security adviser for former President George W. Bush.

As Obama traveled to the region, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden released a new audiotape in which he says Obama has adopted the same “antagonizing” policies toward Muslims as his predecessor, Bush, and is “sowing the seeds for revenge and hatred” against Americans, Al Jazeera television reported.

Gibbs said it wasn’t surprising that al-Qaeda “would want to shift attention” from Obama’s speech and his attempt to open a dialogue with the Muslim world.

European Stops

Later this week, Obama will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Germany and visit Buchenwald, a Nazi concentration camp that his great-uncle helped liberate in 1945. He also will stop in Dresden, which was firebombed by British and U.S. forces, killing an estimated 24,000 to 40,000 civilians.

In France, Obama will meet with President Nicolas Sarkozy and attend a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy on June 6.

To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net; Edwin Chen in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at echen32@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 4, 2009 04:35 EDT