Can Obama's Middle East Speech Aid Reform in Bahrain? (Time.com)

For weeks, Bahrain's Shi'ite-dominated opposition movement felt it had been suffering in a bubble. The occasional condemnation of the Sunni monarchy's repression would emerge from Washington, but little else. But as the regime began razing more Shi'ite mosques (more than 30 in the past three months), thundering words of support came from the very top of the American government. On Thursday, May 19, Barack Obama took on the rulers of the longtime U.S. ally (which plays host to the Fifth Fleet in the gulf), saying, "The only real way forward is for the government and opposition to engage in a dialogue, and you can't have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail."

Opposition leaders have criticized the U.S. for what they feel is a soft stance on violence perpetrated by the Bahraini government against activists. "Will the U.S. stop turning a blind eye to repression?" officials of the embattled opposition party al-Wefaq asked in a statement released earlier on Thursday. "Will the U.S. be more assertive in telling its friends the time has come to end repression? Will the U.S. encourage allies in the region to respond to genuine reform calls?" (See the new Tehran-Riyadh rivalry.)

Obama's remarks heartened opponents of the regime. "Democracy is democracy, and it has to apply to all countries, even those you consider as an ally or friend," says Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. He and other activists applauded the President's reminder that though Bahrain's government has said it is open to dialogue, it has also arrested most of the key opposition leaders who would act as intermediaries. An al-Wefaq official said he was "pleased" that the President had addressed the ongoing violence and hoped it would pave the way for talks between Shi'ite opposition officials and the ruling Sunni government.

Obama's calls for dialogue could strengthen the position of Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, a reformist who has consistently encouraged talks with antigovernment groups. Al-Khalifa is battling an internal split, with his reformists who call for dialogue losing out to extremists who have backed the vicious crackdowns that have left at least 25 Shi'ite protesters dead and more than 500 missing or in jail. "The Bahrain government's not presenting a united front at present," says Jane Kinninmont, a senior research fellow for the Middle East and North Africa at Chatham House. "It's clear that there are internal divisions. You can see Obama's speech as trying to strengthen the Crown Prince and the reformists in the government against the hard-liners." (See more on Obama's struggle to keep pace with situations in the Middle East.)

For the past few months, Bahrain's government has tried to pass itself off as a reformist party. However, its actions are far from conciliatory toward the opposition. The editor of the chief opposition newspaper, al-Wasat, is due to stand trial in a closed court. Ibrahim Sharif, the president of Bahrain's largest leftist party, has not been seen since a predawn arrest in March.

Meanwhile, Obama's condemnation of the destruction of Shi'ite mosques has left the regime feeling even more isolated. In a statement, Bahrain's Cabinet said it "welcomed" the principles contained in the speech and that the "door for dialogue was open ... and would remain so and hopes that the dialogue witnesses the participation of all to achieve a national consensus through constitutional establishments." Observers believe, however, that the divisions within the Sunni ruling class are likely to harden.

The only comfort the hard-liners in Bahrain can take is that, in his speech, the U.S. President very loudly left one country unmentioned: Saudi Arabia. Saudi troops have been helping Bahrain's security forces crack down on Shi'ite antigovernment activists since mid-March. That may be a way for them to rationalize continued repression.

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Obama's Middle East speech missed 'historic opportunity,' say many Arabs (The Christian Science Monitor)

Cairo – President Obama pledged American support for pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East Thursday, trying to put the US on the right side of history as he laid out his vision for US involvement in the region after the Arab Spring.

Those from nations where opposition movements are fighting brutal crackdowns welcomed the president’s messages of support. But what was billed as a major speech left some in the region nonplussed. They said that the speech didn’t cover new ground, was short on policy prescriptions, and that the president missed a chance to apologize for America’s history of supporting the dictators people revolted against.

RECOMMENDED: What Arabs wanted to hear (or not hear) from Obama speech

“Obama really had an opportunity to reshape and reframe the debate and ... he gave it away,” says Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center, adding that there was nothing distinctive or imaginative about the address. “This speech was an opportunity to say to Arabs, ‘We as Americans made mistakes, we did not support democratic aspirations as much as we should have, but we’re going to do better.’ Obama didn’t say that.”

Marked difference from Obama's 2009 Cairo speech

The muted response to the speech differed markedly from the widespread interest and pockets of hope generated by Obama's landmark speech to the Muslim world from Cairo two years ago. Many felt that Obama has failed to follow through on the promises he made in 2009, and declined to give him another chance.

The protests that began six months ago have imparted to Arabs a strengthened sense of independence, even as subsequent uprisings have stalled with a bloody conflict in Libya, prolonged and brutal crackdowns in Syria and Yemen, and the near-total crushing of a protest movement in Bahrain. Obama said that the US aimed to throw its full weight behind supporting those uprisings.

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a€?It will be the policy of the United States to promote reform across the region, and to support transitions to democracy,a€

Still, his words rang hollow to some in the region who see that US support for uprisings is not consistent across the region. But regarding Bahrain, where US criticism of the regime's crackdown on protesters has been muted, he spoke more forcefully than any US official has since the uprising began in February. He specifically criticized mass arrests and the use of "brute force."

“The only way forward is for the government and opposition to engage in a dialogue, and you can’t have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail,” he said. Later, he added, “Shia must never have their mosques destroyed in Bahrain.”

“I’m shocked because this is the first time we’ve seen such clear remarks about Bahrain,” says Mohammed Al Maskati, head of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights in the country's capital, Manama.

Yet Mr. Maskati said there was much left to be desired from the speech as well. Obama did not mention Saudi Arabia’s intervention in Bahrain, where more than 1,000 Saudi troops remain who helped quell the uprising, or make clear how the government could be compelled to talk with the opposition when its actions imply that it is decidedly opposed to negotiations.

'He can't say now that he was with the revolution'

In Egypt, where the US strongly supported former President Hosni Mubarak for 30 years, and resentment of that support still runs high, relatively few people paid attention to the speech. Some who did were critical.

“He gave a speech as if he was with the revolutions from the beginning,” says Emad Gad, an analyst at the Al Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies in Cairo. “But we know his administration was with Mubarak totally. He can’t say now that he was with the revolution.”

Mr. Obama did say that “for decades, the United States has pursued a set of core interests in the region,” adding later, “but if America is to be credible, we must acknowledge that at times our friends in the region have not all reacted to the demands for consistent change – with change that’s consistent with the principles that I’ve outlined today.”

But, says Mr. Hamid, “If you heard this speech in isolation, you would have thought that America had always naturally supported democracy. There was no acknowledgment of America’s very complex and sometimes tragic history in the Middle East."

Praise for economic aid to Egypt, support for Libya

On most topics, there were points that generated both criticism and praise. Some Egyptians welcomed the announcement of a multibillion-dollar economic assistance plan for Egypt, whose economy has struggled since the uprising as tourism and foreign investment have dried up. It will include up to $1 billion in debt relief, with the freed-up funds to be used for investment in growth and entrepreneurship. The US will guarantee $1 billion in borrowing for infrastructure and job creation, said Obama, and a $2 billion fund will be set up for investment in the private sector.

“That’s excellent news,” said taxi driver Mohamed Salem when he learned of the plan for debt relief. “Egypt is suffering. We welcome this. And I hope they will also bring all the money that Mubarak and his sons hid abroad.” Others were more skeptical, however, wondering about strings attached to the aid. Egypt was the No. 2 recipient of US aid for years after making peace with Israel.

On Libya, where the US along with NATO has undertaken military action, Obama made clear that he expected Col. Muammar Qaddafi to be removed from power, although he did not make clear how that would be accomplished.

"That reinforces in their mind that 'America is not going to leave you,' " says Mansour el-Kikhia, chairman of political science at the University of Texas, San Antonio, who has just returned from two weeks in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi in eastern Libya. "Libyans ... know they want freedom and don't need Obama to tell them that ... [but] it is good they see that the United States is supporting what they are doing, that the US is not going to let them down with regard to Qaddafi."

And on Syria, some had hoped the president would come down hard on President Bashar al-Assad for his bloody crackdown on protesters. The president did so, condemning the Syrian crackdown, but he left the door open for Assad, saying, “The Syrian people have shown their courage in demanding a transition to democracy. President Assad now has a choice: He can lead that transition, or get out of the way.”

'The Arab-Israeli conflict doesn't need speeches'

Obama, who is set to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tomorrow at the White House, spent a fifth of the speech discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He called for a two-phased negotiation process, in which Israeli security and Palestinian sovereignty would be agreed upon in a first round of talks using the 1967 borders as a starting point, with the stickier issues of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees to be decided later.

He criticized both Israel and the Palestinian leadership, laying out a number of issues that need to be addressed.

But more rhetoric will not be helpful in solving the impasse, says Gad. “I think the Arab-Israeli conflict doesn't need speeches. It needs steps on the ground. If Obama wants to be effective, put pressure on all sides to resume negotiations.”

Staff writer Scott Peterson contributed reporting from Istanbul, Turkey.

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President Obama's do-over on the Middle East

Washington (CNN) -- In many ways, the promises President Obama made in his 2009 speech to the Arab and Muslim world were doomed from the start. Obama might have sounded like an idealist, but he was thinking like a realist.

The White House billed the Cairo speech as "A New Beginning," and the president made tantalizing promises not only to show progress in solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but on encouraging democratic reform, and engaging authoritarian leaders hostile to the United States.

And even with Obama's recently announced sanctions against Syria and Iran, it still may be too little, too late.

From the start it was always unlikely America was going to secure deals with countries like Iran and Syria by promising to help overthrow their leaders.

Iran's Green Movement learned that all too well after the disputed election in 2009. Eager to engage the Iranian regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Obama administration remained on the sideline, as the opposition was effectively -- and violently -- crushed, taking along with it a historic opportunity to win over the Iranian people.

The dashed expectations Obama created hurt U.S. credibility in the region and had diplomats and Middle East experts scratching their heads about how the United States stumbled so quickly after raising hopes.

Before the Arab Spring started, Obama's aides said the president had already begun weighing the risks of continuing to support unpopular and repressive regimes with a strong U.S. push for reform.

An internal White House paper warned that "increased repression could threaten the political and economic stability of some of our allies, leave us with fewer capable, credible partners who can support our regional priorities, and further alienate citizens in the region," a U.S. official told CNN.

First speech was attempt to seduce the region

On Thursday, Obama will try to put America on the right side of history when he talks again about U.S. policy in the Arab and Muslim world.

In his first speech, Obama hoped to seduce the region, rather than bully it like his predecessor President Bush, and he offered a "new era" in U.S. relations with the Arab and Muslim world.

But more than two years into his term, simply not being Bush won't be enough.

Marwan Muasher, a former Jordanian foreign minister and longtime advocate of Arab reform, says the Middle East is a new environment now, where young men and women are laying their lives on the line for democracy throughout the region. They need to be told their cause is just and how the United States will support them.

"If this is going to be another Cairo speech, forget it," says Muasher, now at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. "It was great two years ago, and even then the feedback was mixed because people wanted to see what he would do. If he doesn't have much to add this time, people will not be fooled by it."

It will be tempting for Obama to be upbeat about how the United States fits into the transformation. The death of Osama bin Laden two weeks ago at the hands of U.S. Navy SEALs presents an attractive background for him to argue that it was not bin Laden's ideology of extremism but the yearnings for democracy and freedom espoused by the U.S. that drove thousands of youth to take to the streets.

In fact, the change sweeping the Middle East was borne not out of U.S. encouragement, but from their taking matters into their own hands.

The U.S. response has been criticized as being largely sticking a finger in the air to see which way the democratic winds of change were blowing before scrambling to support the winner.

The Obama administration was criticized as sleeping through the revolution in Tunisia, supporting it only after ousted President Ben Ali was already on a plane out of the country.

But after a shaky start in Egypt, the administration eventually supported the democratic forces that overthrew President Hosni Mubarak. And Obama's support for military action against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi sent a message to other Arab tyrants that killing thousands of your own people is a line not to be crossed.

Arab Spring hasn't reached the entire region

In Bahrain, Yemen and Syria, the Arab winter is still waiting to thaw.

U.S. policy there is held hostage by a devil's bargain: The U.S. tolerates oppression to maintain stability and protect its interests.

Each country poses its own challenge. And if Obama were to be honest, he would admit that U.S. policy is dictated in part by fears that uprisings in these countries could spiral out of control. And he needs to soothe nervous allies in the region, most of them autocrats, that the United States is not abandoning them.

But such honesty would risk greater questions about U.S. sincerity, which is already being questioned because of seeming inconsistencies in when the United States calls out countries for repelling protests.

Yemeni President President Ali Abdullah Saleh's security forces have clashed with protesters for weeks. Four protesters were killed last week when security forces opened fire on them.

In Bahrain, young members of the Shiite Muslim majority have protested against discrimination, unemployment and corruption -- issues they say the country's Sunni rulers have done little to address.

As Aaron David Miller, a former Mideast negotiator and adviser to six U.S. presidents, notes, Bahrain is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet and a key counterweight to Iran, and Saleh has been an important partner in fighting terror. But Syria's Bashar al-Assad isn't even an ally.

"The Khalifas [Bahrain's royal family] got a pass because they are our friends. Saleh got a pass because counterterrorism efforts are king," Miller said. "But there is no reason why Syria should get a pass. Maybe before he was killing his people, but not now."

Syria presents Obama with biggest quandary

Nowhere is the balance between U.S. interests and values among the most delicate than in Syria, where to many the Obama administration's non-response so far to the bloodshed, when compared to Egypt and Libya, has been mind boggling.

Just 18 days after protests erupted in Cairo's Tahrir Square, Obama threw Hosni Mubarak, a key ally and lynchpin of U.S. security, under the bus by calling for an immediate transition in Egypt.

Going after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was low-hanging fruit, given he was despised by most of the world. Still the U.S. helped assemble a NATO coalition in record time to impose a no-fly zone to protect civilians.

So why does Assad, whose support for Iran, meddling in Lebanon and Iraq, and support for terrorist networks like Hezbollah and Hamas has presented a threat to U.S. interests in the region for his 11-year rule merit a mere slap on the wrist?

As many as 1,000 people have been killed and about 10,000 others arrested since protests broke out there.

The United States' hopes that Assad would change, and the political space it has given him to do so since the crisis began, have been in part based on the fears, both in Washington and throughout the Arab world, that an extremist government would follow him, opening up sectarian tensions in the country.

Syria's nascent opposition has not yet produced any meaningful leaders, and tellingly, when the Atlantic's Jeffery Goldberg asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton whether she would be glad if Assad was going, she said, "It depends upon what replaces it."

In essence, the devil that you know is better than the devil that you don't know.

Until now, U.S. allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia have also been uneasy about consequences of striking against Assad. This week's skirmish on the Golan Heights, which has been quiet for more than 40 years, was a pointed warning to the United States that a destabilized Syria is an unpredictable one.

But the rose colored glasses with which the United States and Europe have viewed Assad are coming off. There's no indication that Assad is going to change course. Is cutting him loose worth the risk?

As one senior administration official put it, "There may be a time when there's really no better alternative, and when you take the chance that, with him no longer there, that things will go in a better direction."

There are growing signs of impatience with that approach. Officials of the powerful pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC told reporters that the "devil you know" argument is losing steam with Israelis.

Yet the United States is also mindful of the limits of its power. Obama knows he will look foolish, if he makes bold threats he can't deliver on.

The truth is the United States has little leverage over the Assad regime. Neither the engagement with which the Obama administration tried to woo Assad with nor the threat of sanctions has worked. And there won't be support from the Arab League and the United Nations for a military intervention similar to NATO-led Libya mission.

Simply put, there isn't much Obama can do to make a difference. But he can make a point by taking steps he has thus far been unable to, like recalling the U.S. ambassador, whom Obama appointed just last December for the first time since 2005, and placing sanctions on Assad personally and declaring the Syrian leader has lost legitimacy and needs to go.

But on Wednesday, the Obama administration announced new sanctions targeting Assad.

Read more on the sanctions

Even prior defenders of the Syrian regime like former U.S. ambassador Ted Kattouf have called for stepping up pressure on the regime.

Fears that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been pushed aside

Leaders and people in the region and here at home are also looking to see whether Obama will offer new ideas to get the Israeli-Palestinian peace process moving again. Hopes are high, but expectations could not be any lower.

The resignation last week of Mideast envoy George Mitchell after more than two fruitless years seemed to be the last nail in the coffin, at least for now. With Egypt moving closer to Iran, Assad in a weakened state and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas forging a unity agreement with Hamas, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will meet with Obama this week, has made clear now is not the time for peace.

If that's the case, Obama is not eager to launch a new initiative only to fail.

But even the most eloquent speech that talks about democracy and reform without actionable steps to try to jump-start the peace process would effectively take the U.S. out of the game. You can't apply old rules, experts say, when the rules have changed.

The Arab street is now setting the pace of change.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said it would be "sad" if the peace process was pushed aside in the current turmoil in the region given Obama's commitment to the issue early in his tenure.

"It's very easy to find excuses not to move forward. It takes statesmanship and determination and conviction to move forward in spite of difficulty," he said.

The Palestinians may be becoming the latest to learn from Arab neighbors what peaceful non-resistance can do. With President Abbas threatening to seek recognition of a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly in September and several countries already promising to support them, the region could be facing further upheaval.

"You can't say to Egyptians fighting for freedom, 'We are with you' and to Palestinians fighting for freedom, 'It is complicated," said Muasher. "That is not going to win you hearts and minds in the Middle East."

It has become a full plate for a secretary of state who, by her own admission, had been reluctant to even sit at the table. Egyptian President Mubarak will be leaving, and nobody is sure what will emerge in his wake. The effects will be felt not just in the Middle East but also back in the U.S.Bill Daley, Obama's chief of staff, has a different approach than Rahm Emanuel. And while the political pro has won praise for being a D.C. outsider, he's no middle-class worker bee.When President Obama signed the bill repealing "don't ask, don't tell," it did not immediately end the military's 17-year ban on gays serving openly. While embarrassing to U.S. diplomats, there haven't been any bombshells out of the WikiLeaks cables yet. But the practical effects already are being felt overseas.You don't need to peek at Santa's long list to know what the White House is asking for this holiday season -- a nicely wrapped box of bipartisanship.As the Afghanistan war enters its ninth year, some observers are asking: When does it end?For all the talk of new female GOP faces, the reality is that overall, the 2010 election will not usher more female lawmakers into the Capitol. Today's five most popular stories

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Obama to spell out Middle East policy

Washington (CNN) -- President Barack Obama will use a major speech this week on the Middle East to reaffirm basic U.S. principles and policies regarding the region while also toughening his administration's stance against Syria's crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, administration officials said Monday.

The speech Thursday at the State Department also will address the ongoing fight against al Qaeda following the May 2 killing of its leader, Osama bin Laden, as well as the current status of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said the officials, who spoke on condition of not being identified.

Last week, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Obama's address will be a "fairly sweeping and comprehensive" take on the events that have upended governments in Tunisia and Egypt and pushed other countries to take steps toward reform. The speech comes nearly two years after a 2009 address in Cairo, the Egyptian capital, that called for "a new beginning" between the United States and the Muslim world.

This time, the Arab Spring that has launched demonstrations throughout North Africa and the Middle East provides the backdrop as Obama continues to enjoy a domestic political uplift from the successful U.S. mission to eliminate bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan.

What's next for the Arab Spring

According to the administration officials, major themes of the speech will focus on how change in the Middle East region came from the people who live there and provided them with an opportunity to gain a say in their future governance, and that the United States cannot impose change but will uphold principles such as freedom of assembly, the right to self-determination and respect for human rights.

Obama also will address situations in specific countries, and is expected to come out strong against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's violent response to protesters in his country, the officials said. They expect additional U.S. sanctions on Syria to be announced before the speech and said the new measures could target Assad by name.

Report: Iran sending banned weapons to Syria

Other countries likely to be mentioned by name include Bahrain and Yemen, but not with the same level of criticism as directed at Syria, the administration officials said.

Obama also will talk about how the Middle East protesters are demonstrating for freedom and democracy, rather than the bin Laden-al Qaeda ideology.

On Sunday, former National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair said that the speech will give Obama a chance to restate American backing for the outpouring of support for the Arab Spring.

"I think it brings us the opportunity to get on the right side of history, the things we believe in," Blair said. "The Arab Spring is not just about Israel, it is about freedom and democracy. And I think that sentiment is very powerful, plays to our strengths and we should be strongly in favor of that."

The Obama administration helped prod former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to leave office in February after the country's military establishment refused to crush a popular uprising against his nearly 30-year rule.

U.S. forces took part in the NATO air campaign against Libya, where the allies have called for Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to yield to an armed rebellion and leave power after nearly 42 years.

Arrest warrants sought for Gadhafi

Washington slapped sanctions on top Syrian officials after a violent crackdown on pro-reform protests there. But the clampdown on demonstrators and activists in Bahrain, a key U.S. ally in the Persian Gulf, has drawn only verbal protests from American officials.

"They are bottling up forces which will eventually push them out," Blair said. "So I think that what the United States does is to encourage that in general, and then we support specifically where we can."

While Obama's Cairo speech of 2009 was well-received, a feeling persists in the region that U.S. policy in reaction to the Arab Spring has been inconsistent. Expectations therefore are high for Obama to this time lay out a clear and strong statement of intent and action rather than general platitudes and half-measures that fail to materialize.

Blair served as director of national intelligence until May 2010, when he resigned after finding himself at odds with the White House and others in the intelligence community during his 16-month tenure. His predecessor, John Negroponte, said Sunday that other players, including the Arab League and the international community, will have to "step up" to support reform if it is going to succeed.

"The Libya case, I think, is instructive in that regard because you will recall that President Obama stipulated that there needed to be more unilateral and European engagement in that situation," said Negroponte, who also served as U.S. ambassador to Iraq under the Bush administration. "And I think ditto with respect to Syria."

Princeton University analyst Anne-Marie Slaughter told CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" Sunday that Obama realizes the United States is "politically indispensable" to creating a broad coalition.

"But once we've done that, his idea is we shouldn't be the global policeman," said Slaughter, a former top State Department official. "Other countries have a really strong stake in these outcomes, and we should be willing to share responsibility with them."

Meanwhile, Negroponte said an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal is needed for Israel, a key U.S. ally, "to be viable over the long term." Though those efforts are currently stalled, "We can never take it completely off the table," he said.

Deadly clashes mark Israel's founding

The administration's Mideast special envoy, former Sen. George Mitchell, resigned last week after two years leading efforts to resolve the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Ongoing Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority's efforts to reconcile the feud between the Hamas and Fatah factions that rule different Palestinian territories and Palestinian steps toward a unilateral declaration of statehood have driven the two sides further apart during that period.

Kishore Mahbubani, a former Singaporean diplomat and ambassador to Washington, told "GPS" that other countries will be watching the Americans closely because of the global reach of the United States.

"They'll always look at both American rhetoric and American deeds," Mahbubani said. "American power is present everywhere."

CNN's Matt Smith and Tom Cohen contributed to this story.

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U.S. envoy to Middle East resigns

Washington (CNN) -- Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell is resigning as the Obama administration's Mideast envoy, the White House announced Friday.

Mitchell has served as President Barack Obama's point man in the region as the administration has tried to keep Arab-Israeli peace talks on track.

Deputy Middle East Envoy David Hale will take Mitchell's place, according to the White House.

"George Mitchell has worked as a tireless advocate for peace as the U.S. special envoy for the Middle East," President Barack Obama said in a written statement. He "leaves behind a proud legacy of dedicated public service and the country owes him a debt of gratitude for his extraordinary commitment."

Mitchell's resignation, which takes effect May 20, comes at a pivotal moment in the Arab world. Obama is scheduled to deliver an address Thursday on the "Arab Spring": the uprisings that have shaken long-standing autocratic regimes across North Africa and the broader Middle East.

In addition, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Jordan's King Abdullah are scheduled to visit Obama next week. Netanyahu will also deliver an address to Congress.

Mitchell, a Democrat from Maine, was among the president's first appointments. He was named Mideast envoy on January 22, 2009, two days after Obama took office.

Among other things, he played a key role in Clinton-era negotiations regarding the status of Northern Ireland that resulted in the Good Friday Peace Agreement.

Mitchell has repeatedly reaffirmed the importance of a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, including Israeli-Palestinian agreement on a two-state solution and normalization of relations between Israel and both Syria and Lebanon.

New questions about the viability of the stalled peace process were raised this month in the wake of a formal reconciliation agreement between the two largest Palestinian factions: President Mahmoud Abbas' party, the West Bank-based Fatah, and the Islamist group Hamas, which rules Gaza.

Both Israel and the United States consider Hamas a terrorist organization and have voiced strong opposition to the inclusion of the group in any unity government, demanding that it first renounce violence, recognize the state of Israel and abide by all previous agreements.

Netanyahu has called on the Palestinian Authority to pull out of the deal, saying it jeopardizes prospects for a peace agreement.

A senior Israeli government official recently said the government views Hamas' involvement as a "fundamental impasse."

The agreement between Hamas, Fatah and smaller Palestinian factions calls for the establishment of a new Palestinian caretaker government and for parliamentary and presidential elections next year.

CNN's Ed Henry and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report.

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