US MAKING EARNEST EFFORTS TO REACH OUT TO MUSLIMS
JAKARTA, Indonesia - US President Barack Obama said yesterday that Washington's effort to reach out to the Muslim world was earnest and would help improve US security, although he acknowledged that there was still more work to do.Obama arrived Tuesday on a twice-postponed trip to Indonesia, the world's most populous majority-Muslim state. Before leaving today, he plans a major speech reaching out to the Muslim world that would tout Indonesia as an example of an emerging democracy and tolerant society.
- "With respect to outreach to the Muslim world, I think that our efforts have been earnest and sustained," he said at a joint news conference with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
- "We don't expect that we are going to completely eliminate some of the misunderstandings and mistrust that have developed over a long period of time, but we do think that we're on the right path."
- Obama described a range of efforts the United States is making to reach out to Muslims, including education and business initiatives, such as a meeting Obama hosted this year that brought Muslim entrepreneurs from around the world to Washington.
- "By broadening the relationship, that strengthens it, it builds trust, creates more people-to-people contact," Obama said.
- "That will be good for our security but it will also be good for the larger cause of understanding between the United States and the Muslim world. I think it's an incomplete project we've got a lot more work to do. It's not going to eliminate or replace some tough dialogue around concrete policy issues.
Obama was asked about one difficult policy issue at the news conference, Israel's pushing ahead with plans to build 1,300 new apartments for Jewish families in occupied East Jerusalem, despite fierce opposition from Palestinians.Obama said activity like the apartment building could end up making the peace negotiations more difficult.
- "This kind of activity is never helpful when it comes to peace negotiations. And I'm concerned that we're not seeing each side make the extra effort involved to get a breakthrough," he said.
- Earlier, Obama arrived in Jakarta under stormy skies on Air Force One from India, as his nine-day Asian odyssey took him from the world's largest democracy to its most populous Muslim-majority nation.
- The president spent four years in Indonesia as a boy, but will have little time for tourism on a shortened, 24-hour visit, which will focus on improving ties with the Muslim world and courting opportunities for US companies.
- "It's wonderful to be here although I have to tell you that when you visit a place that you spent time in as a child, as the president, it's a little disorientating," he told reporters, standing alongside Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
- Within a few hours of Obama landing in Jakarta, Yudhoyono said the two had sealed a "comprehensive partnership" agreement designed to boost ties across economic and other fields.
OBAMA OUTREACH TO MUSLIMS CAN BE A SIGN OF NEW BEGINING?
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama yesterday renewed his commitment to a “new beginning” with the Muslim world, vowing no let-up in US efforts to promote Middle East peace, curb militant violence and boost economic development.Seeking to build on his outreach to Muslims in a speech in Cairo last June, Obama used a US-hosted Muslim business conference to underscore what his administration has done so far and to pledge further work to overcome mistrust.
While Obama has made progress toward mending America’s image in the Islamic world, he still faces stiff challenges in his handling of the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the nuclear standoff with Iran and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
he summit was widely viewed as a positive step, analysts said Obama ultimately would be judged in the Muslim world not by his hosting of business conferences but on his handling of big geopolitical issues.
Aside from the Middle East, Obama has struggled to advance on other fronts. The administration is pushing ahead with its strategy for the war in Afghanistan despite increasingly brittle relations with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.
Source: Reuters
While Obama has made progress toward mending America’s image in the Islamic world, he still faces stiff challenges in his handling of the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the nuclear standoff with Iran and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
- “I knew that this vision would not be fulfilled in a single year, or even several. But I knew we had to begin and that all of us have responsibilities to fulfill,” Obama told the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship.
- The focus on business development marked the Obama administration’s strategy of trying to broaden the conversation with Muslims beyond the “war on terrorism” that dominated the Bush-era approach and alienated many.
- But, speaking to an audience of 250 business people from more than 50 countries, Obama also waded into some of the hot-button issues between Washington and the Muslim world that he acknowledged “have often been a source of tension.”
- Many Muslims are especially disappointed by Obama’s failure so far to advance Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking despite promising in his first days in office to make it a high priority.
- He assured his audience he would not abandon US diplomatic efforts, which have been stymied by a dispute with Israel over Jewish settlement building and divisions among the Palestinians.
- “Despite the inevitable difficulties, so long as I am president, the United States will never waver in our pursuit of a two-state solution that ensures the rights and security of both Israelis and Palestinians,” Obama pledged. But he offered no new initiative to revive long-stalled peace talks.
- Obama also asserted that the United States was “responsibly ending” the war in Iraq and “in Afghanistan, Pakistan and beyond, we’re forging new partnerships to isolate violent extremists, combat corruption and foster the development that improves lives and communities.”
- The two-day conference sought to deliver on a promise Obama made in his Cairo speech, in which he pledged to do more to boost economic development and bolster US business ties with the Muslim world.
- Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, had been widely criticized by Muslims for the perception that his administration viewed them mostly through the lens of terrorism. Under Bush, America’s image in the Muslim world suffered mostly because of the Iraq war, the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and the Guantanamo detention center.
- “There’s so much more we can do together, in partnership, to foster opportunity and prosperity in all our countries,” Obama said as he sought to focus more on talking about doing business together.
he summit was widely viewed as a positive step, analysts said Obama ultimately would be judged in the Muslim world not by his hosting of business conferences but on his handling of big geopolitical issues.Aside from the Middle East, Obama has struggled to advance on other fronts. The administration is pushing ahead with its strategy for the war in Afghanistan despite increasingly brittle relations with Afghan leader Hamid Karzai.
OBAMA TOUR MID EAST TO MEND TIES WITH MUSLIMS
WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama departs for the Middle East and Europe on Tuesday for four-day visit.
His first stop, will be in Saudi Arabia, where he will hold talks with King Abdullah on issues like the Mideast peace process, Iran's nuclear program and energy prices.
Obama will try to repair U.S. ties to the Islamic world this week in a speech from the Middle East that aides say will reach out to Muslims but deal with tough issues like the peace process and violent extremism.
He will use his address to try to repair some of the damage to America's image caused by the Iraq war, U.S. treatment of military detainees and the lack of progress in Mideast peace talks.
Asked on Monday if the continuing U.S. conflict in Afghanistan would undermine his effort to engage the Islamic world, Obama said the United States had no territorial ambitions in Afghanistan and only wanted to prevent al Qaeda from launching another Sept. 11-style attack.
"What we want is simply that people aren't hanging out in Afghanistan who are plotting to bomb the United States," Obama told National Public Radio. "That's a fairly modest goal that other Muslim countries should be able to understand.
The success of the U.S. leader's diplomatic initiatives in the region like advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and halting Iran's nuclear program may depend on how well Obama, whose father was a Muslim and who lived in Indonesia as a boy, is able to improve U.S.-Islamic ties.
Source: The Star Online
His first stop, will be in Saudi Arabia, where he will hold talks with King Abdullah on issues like the Mideast peace process, Iran's nuclear program and energy prices.
Obama will try to repair U.S. ties to the Islamic world this week in a speech from the Middle East that aides say will reach out to Muslims but deal with tough issues like the peace process and violent extremism.
He will use his address to try to repair some of the damage to America's image caused by the Iraq war, U.S. treatment of military detainees and the lack of progress in Mideast peace talks.
Asked on Monday if the continuing U.S. conflict in Afghanistan would undermine his effort to engage the Islamic world, Obama said the United States had no territorial ambitions in Afghanistan and only wanted to prevent al Qaeda from launching another Sept. 11-style attack.
"What we want is simply that people aren't hanging out in Afghanistan who are plotting to bomb the United States," Obama told National Public Radio. "That's a fairly modest goal that other Muslim countries should be able to understand.
The success of the U.S. leader's diplomatic initiatives in the region like advancing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and halting Iran's nuclear program may depend on how well Obama, whose father was a Muslim and who lived in Indonesia as a boy, is able to improve U.S.-Islamic ties.
Source: The Star Online
VISITORS GEOFLAGS SINCE AUGUST 26, 2009
