Obama to lay out new Mideast policy

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will lay out a vision for his Middle East policy on Thursday, using Osama bin Laden's death as a chance to recast the U.S. response to political upheaval in the Arab world.

Obama, who has enjoyed a boost in his standing at home and abroad with the death of the al-Qaida leader, will give his much-anticipated "Arab Spring" speech one day before talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The president is expected to recommit to seeking an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal, but seen as unlikely to present major new proposals given the resignation of Mideast envoy George Mitchell, who led two years of mostly fruitless mediation efforts.

The administration, looking to counter criticism it has struggled to keep pace with turmoil in the Arab world, has been crafting a new U.S. strategy for the region since shortly after popular uprisings erupted, toppling autocratic rulers in Egypt and Tunisia and engulfing Libya in near-civil war.

The killing of bin Laden will give Obama a chance to make the case for Arabs to reject al-Qaida's Islamist militancy and embrace democratic change.

"The president believes very firmly that those who view al-Qaida and those who view terrorism as a means to achieving a better future are fast moving toward . . . the dustbin of history," White House spokesman Jay Carney said when asked how bin Laden's death would figure in Obama's policy address.

The speech comes amid criticism of the Western air campaign which has failed to break a stalemate between Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and rebels trying to oust him. The United States is also under pressure to take stronger action against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for his violent crackdown on protests.

Carney said that Obama's speech, to be delivered at the State Department, would be a "sweeping" review of the U.S. response to political unrest in the Arab world.

Mitchell's last day will be May 20 -- the same day Netanyahu visits.

Mitchell, the former Senate majority leader acclaimed for his success in sealing a Northern Ireland peace deal, said in a letter to Obama that he took the diplomatic job intending to only serve two years.