CAIRO: Initial regional reactions to Barack Obama’s victory in the US presidential elections mirror those in the United States with much to be hopeful about.

But all optimism is tinted with a note of caution; it is impossible to expect dramatic change in a region that has been simmering in turmoil for over half a century.

This caution has been justified by Obama’s first staff appointment, offering the chief of staff position to Democratic Congressman Rahm Emanual. The Chicago representative is the son of an Israeli who was a member of the Irgun, famous for its role in the Deir Yassin massacre of Palestinians in 1948.

On the flipside, it emerged that Obama had sent his senior foreign policy advisor Robert Malley to both Cairo and Damascus these past few weeks to outline the president-elect’s plans for the region, which indicates a willingness to further strengthen ties with staunch US ally Egypt and begin boosting relations with Syria.

President Hosni Mubarak sent Wednesday his congratulations to Obama along with the hope that he would work towards a just settlement in the Middle East, with the peace process currently in disarray a year after the Annapolis summit.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood’s supreme guide Mohamed Mahdi Akef called on Obama to put an immediate stop to the “criminality” of the incumbent Bush administration against the Arab and Muslim world.

And while he saw Obama’s victory as a positive step and repudiation of the Bush administration, Akef said, “He must atone for the sins of America.” Directing his comments at Obama he added, “I hope you build your policy in the Arab and Islamic world on the respect for justice and freedom for everybody … and I invite you to respect democracy and human rights.”  

Yet the histrionics of the Arabic press that a man with a Muslim name had been elected to the highest office in the US was also tempered by the belief that while the image has changed drastically for the better, US policy, especially in the Middle East, will not undergo a similar transformation.

The Egyptian newspaper Al-Badeel said in an editorial that Obama’s victory “doesn’t mean that we’re about to witness a radical change in American policy” and that not much would change for the Arab nations in the region, as US policy is all about “preserving Israel’s superiority over all its Arab neighbors and [having] oil at an acceptable price.”

Indeed Obama and his running mate Joe Biden have been at pains to display their support for Israel, with Obama promising Jerusalem to be the “undivided” capital of Israel and Biden stating that Israel would not find a better friend than him.

Reactions from Israeli politicians have also been positive about Obama’s victory, denoting that it would in no way weaken relations between the two.

“Israeli-US relations are a special relationship based on values and common interest, with tight cooperation. Israel and the United States both desire to maintain and strengthen these relations,” said outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said, “During Barack Obama's recent visit to Israel, and especially during the tour we conducted together in the city of Sderot, the people of Israel were impressed by his commitment to the peace and security of Israel.”

“Israel looks forward to continued close strategic cooperation with the new administration, the new president and the US Congress, in order to continue to strengthen the lasting special relationship between our two countries,” she added.

However, Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal said before the election results came through that the Palestinian group was ready for dialogue with any US leader.

“We are ready to deal with any presidential candidate, but we will always stick to our rights. We acknowledge that the United States is powerful, but we are more powerful in our territory,” he said.

And if the peace process is one Middle East issue on Obama’s plate, there is also the matter of Iraq and its neighbor Iran.

Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said, “The government has a sincere desire to cooperate with the elected president in order to achieve the joint interests of the two sides, preserve the security and stability of Iraq, maintain the full sovereignty of Iraq and protect the interests of its people.”

While in Iran, Ali Haddad Adil, a senior advisor for Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei said, “The American people have to change their policies in order to get rid of the quagmire created by President Bush for them.”

However, before all of this Obama will find himself assuming office with a staggering series of problems to contend with, chief amongst them an economic crisis not seen for generations and two wars the US is already committed in, as he said in his acceptance speech.

And while his advisors want to avoid the mistakes of his predecessors and formulate a foreign policy strategy right away, Obama might find that there are other issues that need his immediate attention.