CAIRO , Egypt ( CNN ) -- Languishing in a Cairo prison last year , a prisoner noticed that every day , the prison staff would clean the adjacent cell , even though there was no one in it . Why , the prisoner asked his guards , did they do it ? It 's for Barack Obama , they responded . Because when he loses the election , he 'll surely be thrown in jail , so this way , a cell will be ready for him . Every day , the prisoner said , he prayed in his cell that Obama would win . The prisoner was Ayman Nour , a liberal politician who in 2005 ran against and lost to Egypt 's aging ruler , Hosni Mubarak , in the country 's first multiparty presidential elections . Soon afterward , he was convicted of electoral fraud and sent to jail . He was released earlier this year . Nour said he had received an invitation from the American Embassy to attend President Obama 's address to the Muslim world at Cairo University on Thursday . He said he does n't plan to attend , but will watch it on television . `` That way , '' he said , `` if I hear something I do n't like , I can always change the channel with my remote control . '' The way that Nour prayed for an Obama victory , but will not go to hear him in person , is typical of the ambiguities in how many in Egypt and throughout the Muslim world view Obama 's much touted address to the world 's nearly 1.5 billion Muslims . Watch shopkeepers say what they want from Obama » . On the one hand , at least in Egypt , Obama is the most popular American president in years . Almost everyone you meet is almost starry-eyed over the new American leader . On the other hand , the region has a long history of disappointment with the United States . Egyptian reformists look back bitterly on their experience during the Bush administration , which , after the September 11 , 2001 , attacks on the United States and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq , launched an initiative to push for political liberalization in the Middle East . In 2005 , then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a speech that sent a shockwave through Egypt . Journalist Ethar El-Katatney recalled , `` She said that in the last 60 years , the U.S. pursued stability at the expense of democracy . We all said , 'wow ! ' `` The mounting American pressure on the dictators , the demonstrations , the rediscovery of long-lost voices raised against authoritarian regimes like Egypt 's sparked talk of an `` Arab spring , '' a long-overdue blossoming of freedom and democracy in the political desert of the Middle East . But the Bush administration 's passion for Arab democracy cooled dramatically when Egypt 's powerful Islamist network , the Muslim Brotherhood , made stunning gains in parliamentary elections in late 2005 . And the passion went stone cold in January 2006 , when the militant Palestinian Islamic group Hamas was swept to power in democratic elections in Gaza and the West Bank . Sensing Washington 's worry , Arab dictators and their ruthless security services saw their chance , and slowly started to squeeze the brave few who had been calling for change . Award-winning Egyptian blogger Wael Abbas experienced the thrill of the `` Arab spring , '' but since then has had plenty of run-ins with Egypt 's secret police . He has no illusions about what matters to the United States , Obama 's charisma notwithstanding . Watch how Egyptians are looking for concrete results » . `` It 's OK for these countries to be oppressive , '' he said , `` as long as they are allies [ of the United States ] , as long as they are not communists , as long as they allow investment , as long as they allow McDonald 's and Hardee 's and whatever businesses to be open here . But if they are dictators , [ the United States ] does n't care about human rights , as long as they are allies , as long as they keep peace with Israel , it 's OK. '' `` We have a fundamental problem with America , '' Nour said in an interview at his flat Monday . `` America always takes positive steps , then setbacks happen , and usually America puts its interests above its principles . '' Watch Egyptian youths give their views on Obama 's trip » . And this is what Obama may want to keep in mind when he addresses the Muslim world from Cairo . People here are eager for concrete initiatives , not a rousing speech with no follow-up . This is a region that has often had great faith in the good intentions of the United States , only to watch as that faith was betrayed . `` It ca n't be all rainbows and roses , '' said El-Katatney , the journalist . `` We do n't want any more grand promises . Obama talks brilliantly , but we 've become a bit cynical . ''
President Obama is heading to Egypt to make address to Muslim world . Obama is the most popular U.S. president in years for Egyptians . Comment: