US President Barack Obama tours the Sphinx and pyramids outside Cairo, Thursday, June 4, 2009. Right is Egyptian antiquities expert Zahi Hawass. -- PHOTO: AP
CAIRO - PRESIDENT Barack Obama called for a 'new beginning' in relations between the United States and the Muslim world on Thursday, addressing grievances over the Arab-Israeli conflict, two US-led wars and tensions over Iran.
CAIRO - MUSLIMS greeted President's Barack Obama's speech from Cairo on Thursday as a mark of a changed American attitude toward them and a new policy on the Middle East. But some insisted they still need to see action to back up his words.
Mr Obama touched on many themes Muslims wanted to hear. He insisted Palestinians must have a state and said continued Israeli settlement in the West Bank is not legitimate. He assured them the US would pull all it troops out of Iraq by 2012 and promised no permanent US presence in Afghanistan.
ALTHOUGH the administration tried to lower expectations in recent days about what would be accomplished by the speech, there were high hopes in the region that he would take a tougher line on Israel and follow up his words with actions.
He also offered little specific on democracy, the rule of law and human rights in the Arab world, issues that many in the region had hoped to hear him address.
Speaking to the world's more than one billion Muslims from Cairo, he pledged to pursue Palestinian statehood, said US troops did not want to stay in Iraq or Afghanistan forever and offered mutual respect in dealings with long-time foe, Tehran.
His keynote speech, occasionally interrupted by shouts of 'we love you', was welcomed by some for its fresh tone after George W. Bush's departure even as others expressed frustration that he did not outline specific steps to change US policy.
'We meet at a time of tension between the United States and Muslims around the world - tension rooted in historical forces that go beyond any current policy debate,' Mr Obama said in the address that included quoting Islam's holy book, the Koran.
'I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect,' he said. 'America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition. This cycle of suspicion and discord must end,' he added.
Highlighting hostility the US leader faces from some quarters, Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in a message on a website, warned Muslims against alliance with Christians and Jews, saying it would annul their faith.
It was the second communication from the Al-Qaeda leader in as many days aimed at upstaging Mr Obama's speech.
The supreme leader of Washington's regional arch foe, Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said in an speech before Mr Obama spoke that America was 'deeply hated' and only action, not 'slogans,' could change that.
The choice of Cairo for the speech underscored Mr Obama's focus on the Middle East, where he faces big foreign policy challenges, from trying to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks to curbing Iran's nuclear plans that Washington says is to build atomic bombs. Tehran denies any such aims. -- REUTERS
