Maybe they can pray together?
(REUTERS) — US President Barack Obama has invited Egypt’s newly elected Islamist president, Mohamed Mursi, to visit the United States in September, an Egyptian official said on Sunday, reflecting the new ties Washington is cultivating with the region’s Islamists.
Washington, long wary of Islamists and an ally of ousted President Hosni Mubarak, shifted policy last year to open formal contacts with the Muslim Brotherhood, the group behind Mursi’s win. Mursi formally resigned from the group after his victory.
Mursi’s success at the polls mirrors the rising influence of Islamists in countries across the Middle East and North Africa in the wake of revolts and protests against autocratic rulers who have led the region for decades.
“President Obama extended an invitation to President Mursi to visit the United States when he attends the UN General Assembly in September,” Egyptian aide Yasser Ali said after Mursi met US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns in Cairo.
Israel has watched with growing concern the political gains of the Brotherhood, an inspiration for the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The 84-year-old Brotherhood renounced violence as a means to achieve political change in Egypt decades ago.