Obama to host 250 Muslim entrepreneurs

Washington: Analysts say President Barack Obama's bid to strengthen social and business ties between the US and Muslim nations will be overshadowed by the need for progress on peace in the Middle East.

Obama is to host a two-day presidential summit on entrepreneurship, bringing together about 250 business and social entrepreneurs from more than 50 countries, most with large Muslim populations.

The summit fulfils a pledge he made to Islamic nations in Cairo in June.

The president is expected to address the summit at the end of the first day to underscore his commitment to "deepening our engagement around the world with Muslim-majority communities," Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes said.

While the summit is widely viewed as a positive step, analysts said Obama would ultimately be judged on his handling bigger issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Iran's nuclear program, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"In some ways Cairo is not going to be fulfilled until you get grander solutions to some of the big geopolitical problems," said Center rer Strategic and International Studies analyst Juan Zarate, who is also a former deputy national security adviser to President George W. Bush.

Obama's effort to revive the Middle East peace process has been hampered by Israeli colonisation activity, and his attempts to engage Iran over its nuclear programme have been rebuffed. The administration is pushing ahead with the war in Afghanistan despite increasingly brittle relations with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.

Administration officials point to Obama's responsible steps toward winding up the Iraq war, and his fulfillment of pledges made in the Cairo speech.