After years of Bush, Arabs see hope in Obama

Monumental challenges await
The Middle East poses some of the most monumental foreign policy challenges for an Obama administration. He has promised a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq by 2011, a position that pleases many in the Arab world, though it also raises fears of renewed chaos after the Americans leave.

Also looming is the standoff with Iran over its nuclear program and its increasing influence across the Middle East. Obama has said he's open to direct negotiations with Iran, a welcome change to many Arabs who feared a war could break out.

Iran's hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad offered his congratulations to Obama on Thursday — the first time an Iranian leader has offered such wishes to a U.S. president-elect since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

In Israel, however, many fear Obama will make concessions that will open the way for Tehran to build a nuclear weapon, and some Arab governments are wary of anything that could allow rival Iran to strengthen its foothold in the region.

But heaviest on most Arabs' minds is the question of how strongly Obama will push the peace process with Israel. The Bush administration put negotiations on the back burner for nearly seven years until a last-minute drive to revive Israeli-Palestinian talks. The negotiations have made little progress, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice acknowledged Thursday that a peace deal by a year-end deadline is no longer possible.

Syria is also hoping for direct negotiations with Israel with U.S. mediation after months of indirect talks through Turkish intermediaries. Damascus also hopes for a thaw in relations with Washington, which have been bitter throughout the Bush administration.

'Someone who looks like us'
Arab news networks have run blanket coverage of Obama's win, with many analysts playing down expectations for dramatic shifts in U.S. policy. Also heavily covered was the history-in-the-making nature of Obama's win: Al-Jazeera repeatedly aired a long report on African-Americans and the civil rights struggle, with images of Martin Luther King Jr.

In Sudan — another country with strong tensions with Washington — cell phone text message exchanges in Khartoum celebrated: "Congratulations to Africa" and "Congratulations for Obama. Change is possible."

Even some Islamic militants were inspired. One prominent hard-line Kuwaiti cleric, Sheikh Hamed al-Ali, said in a Web statement that the Islamic world should "benefit from this example and request change also, and get rid of any regime that leads it with ignorance and injustice."

At the Cairo hair salon, manager Mahmoud Hassan said he felt relief with Obama's victory. "I see myself in him — like there is someone who looks like us, someone from Africa, who is the ruler of the world.

"If I met Obama, I would just tell him, 'Please don't let us down. Don't let this hope fade away, and let us feel safe with you.'"

More from msnbc.com First Read: Palin on creationism, Clinton, Fey Scoop: Will Meyer bite into another ‘Twilight’ book? Ice addict heads for poles, Everest | Trek posts Were you paying attention? Take our weekly quiz World Blog: China puts foot down on 'Oba Mao' T-shirts Stimulus tracker: See where millions of dollars went On Twitter: Breaking news updates | Weird and wild

MORE FROM MIDEAST & N. AFRICA

Mideast & N. Africa Section Front

Palestinians to seek endorsement of statehood Bingo’s comeback erases divisions in Baghdad Iraqi Sunni Arab VP threatens to veto election law Iran cracks down on online opposition Reports: Iran ex-deputy minister jailed in Israel Iran's first lady makes rare speech at Rome summit Mideast & N. Africa Section Front   Add Mideast & N. Africa headlines to your news reader: