Obama, Egypt's Mubarak Click at DC Meeting

A meeting today between President Obama and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak signaled a thaw in relations between the two countries, the New York Times reports. Obama also spoke of “positive steps” that “could help to jump-start an effective process on all sides” in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Mubarak, meanwhile, said Obama had “removed all doubts about the United States in the Muslim world.”

“We are moving in the right direction” on Israel and Palestine, Mubarak continued. And the leaders’ warm feelings certainly didn’t go unnoticed by observers. The chemistry between President Bush and Mubarak “was very bad,” one expert says. “So, I think there is an effort to put that well in the past.” (More President Obama stories.)