efq
04-06-2009, 07:41 PM
Barack Obama has said he seeks "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims" and insisted the "cycle of suspicion and discord must end".
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Jun/Week1/15296023.jpg President Obama speaking in Cairo
The American president (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Barack%20Obama) was speaking in Egypt - one of the world's largest Muslim countries – during the second leg of a four-day trip to the Middle East and Europe.
The address was designed to reframe relations after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the US-led war in Iraq (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Iraq).
He warned violent extremists were exploiting tensions between Muslims and the West, and that such fanatics must be confronted.
In a gesture, Mr Obama conceded those tensions have 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 United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," he said.
But 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."
The actions of violent extremists were "irreconcilable with the rights of human beings", and Mr Obama 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.
Mr Obama delivered the speech at Cairo University after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Hosni%20Mubarak).
Moving on to the Middle East peace process, Mr Obama said: "The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security."
The president said Palestinians had to abandon violence and urged them to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. He also said Israel should stop building settlements in the West Bank.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Jun/Week1/15295759.jpg The president in Cairo
He also insisted any nation, including Iran (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Iran), had the right to peaceful nuclear power "if it complies with its responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty".
But he stressed: "This is not simply about America's interests. It is about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East that could lead this region and the world down a hugely dangerous path."
He also criticised Iraq as a US "war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world".
It had ultimately reminded Americans of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus, he said.
Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said one of the most important aspects of the speech was "not that it was on the western media... it was on state TV in Egypt (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Egypt) - it went out to the whole of the people".
Sky's US political analyst commentator Jon-Christopher Bua said: "This speech, which showed respect and emphasis on the things that Muslims and the Western world have in common, signals a promising new approach."
How it is received both in the US and in the Muslim Community Worldwide may be the opening of a new chapter in the relations between these groups for decades to come."
Highlighting the hostility the US leader faces from some quarters, Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said America was "deeply hated" and only action, not "slogans", could change that.
Al Qaeda (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Ali%20Qaeda) leader Osama bin Laden, in a message on a website (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Al-Qaedas-Leader-Osama-Bin-Laden-Warns-Brace-For-Long-War-With-Infidels/Article/200906115295867), also warned Muslims against alliance with Christians and Jews.
He said such unions would annul Muslims' faith and urged them to fight allies of the "infidels."
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman said Mr Obama's speech was a "good start" towards a new US policy in the Middle East.
The speech was amazing and I hope Obama keeps to his words. Watch the speech on SkyNews or Youtube. It is truly a amazing speech.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Jun/Week1/15296023.jpg President Obama speaking in Cairo
The American president (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Barack%20Obama) was speaking in Egypt - one of the world's largest Muslim countries – during the second leg of a four-day trip to the Middle East and Europe.
The address was designed to reframe relations after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and the US-led war in Iraq (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Iraq).
He warned violent extremists were exploiting tensions between Muslims and the West, and that such fanatics must be confronted.
In a gesture, Mr Obama conceded those tensions have 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 United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear," he said.
But 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."
The actions of violent extremists were "irreconcilable with the rights of human beings", and Mr Obama 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.
Mr Obama delivered the speech at Cairo University after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Hosni%20Mubarak).
Moving on to the Middle East peace process, Mr Obama said: "The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security."
The president said Palestinians had to abandon violence and urged them to acknowledge Israel's right to exist. He also said Israel should stop building settlements in the West Bank.
http://news.sky.com/sky-news/content/StaticFile/jpg/2009/Jun/Week1/15295759.jpg The president in Cairo
He also insisted any nation, including Iran (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Iran), had the right to peaceful nuclear power "if it complies with its responsibilities under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty".
But he stressed: "This is not simply about America's interests. It is about preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East that could lead this region and the world down a hugely dangerous path."
He also criticised Iraq as a US "war of choice that provoked strong differences in my country and around the world".
It had ultimately reminded Americans of the need to use diplomacy and build international consensus, he said.
Sky's foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said one of the most important aspects of the speech was "not that it was on the western media... it was on state TV in Egypt (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Egypt) - it went out to the whole of the people".
Sky's US political analyst commentator Jon-Christopher Bua said: "This speech, which showed respect and emphasis on the things that Muslims and the Western world have in common, signals a promising new approach."
How it is received both in the US and in the Muslim Community Worldwide may be the opening of a new chapter in the relations between these groups for decades to come."
Highlighting the hostility the US leader faces from some quarters, Iran's Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said America was "deeply hated" and only action, not "slogans", could change that.
Al Qaeda (http://indepth.news.sky.com/InDepth/topic/Ali%20Qaeda) leader Osama bin Laden, in a message on a website (http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Al-Qaedas-Leader-Osama-Bin-Laden-Warns-Brace-For-Long-War-With-Infidels/Article/200906115295867), also warned Muslims against alliance with Christians and Jews.
He said such unions would annul Muslims' faith and urged them to fight allies of the "infidels."
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman said Mr Obama's speech was a "good start" towards a new US policy in the Middle East.
The speech was amazing and I hope Obama keeps to his words. Watch the speech on SkyNews or Youtube. It is truly a amazing speech.