Obama calls for fresh start with Muslim world

Barack Obama called for a “new beginning between the US and Muslims” today and said together they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the search for peace in the Middle East.

“This cycle of suspicion and discord must end,” he said in a widely anticipated speech in Egypt, an address designed to change relations after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the war in Iraq.

In a gesture, Mr Obama conceded at the beginning of his remarks that tension “has been fed by colonialism that denied rights and opportunities to many Muslims, and a Cold War in which Muslim-majority countries were often treated as proxies without regard to their own aspirations.”

“And I consider it part of my responsibility as president of the US to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear,” he said.

At the same time, he said the same principle must apply in reverse. “Just as Muslims do not fit a crude stereotype, America is not the crude stereotype of a self-interested empire.”

Mr Obama spoke at Cairo University after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the second stop of a four-nation trip to the Middle East and Europe.

The speech was the centrepiece of his journey, and while its tone was striking, the president also covered the Middle East peace process, Iran, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the violence struggle waged by al-Qaida.

Mr Obama arrived in the Middle East yesterday greeted by a new and threatening message from al Qaida leader, Osama bin Laden. In an audio recording, the terrorist leader said the president inflamed the Muslim world by ordering Pakistan to crack down on militants in Swat Valley and block Islamic law there.

But the president said the actions of violent extremist Muslims are “irreconcilable with the rights of human beings,” and quoted the Koran to make his point.

“Islam is not part of the problem in combating violent extremism – it is an important part of promoting peace,” he said.

The White House said Mr Obama’s speech contained no new policy proposals on the Middle East, and he issued an even-handed call to Israel and Palestinians alike to live up to their international obligations.

“Hamas must put an end to violence, recognise past agreements, and recognise Israel’s right to exist,” he said of the organisation the United States deems as terrorists.

“The Palestinian Authority must develop its capacity to govern, with institutions that serve the needs of its people,” Mr Obama said.

“At the same time, Israelis must acknowledge that just as Israel’s right to exist cannot be denied, neither can Palestine. The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements” on the West Bank and outskirts of Jerusalem, he said. “It is time for these settlements to stop.”

As for Jerusalem itself, he said it should be a “secure and lasting home for Jews and Christians and Muslims ...”

Mr Obama also said the Arab nations should no longer use the conflict with Israel to distract its own people from other problems.

He trod lightly on one issue that President George Bush had made a centrepiece of his second term – the spread of democracy.

Mr Obama said he has a commitment to governments “that reflect the will of the people.” And yet, he said, “No system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by any other.”