(Barack Hussein Obama)
May 9th 2009 12:47
President Barack Obama, who promised to lend a hand to the Islamic world if it unclenches a fist, plans a major speech from Egypt next month as he seeks to repair damaged relations between the United States and Muslims.
Egyptians' reception of Obama will be closely watched all over the world. With his Islamic name (Barack Hussein Obama) and family links to Islam, many Muslims are fascinated by the new U.S. president.
The much-anticipated speech will further Obama's efforts to cool down animosities that burst into flame 30 years ago when Iranians overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran, and were fueled by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.In his inaugural address in January, he told the Muslim world "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." He has granted interviews to Arabic-language networks, telephoned friendly Arab leaders and sent special envoy George J. Mitchell to the Middle East on a "listening tour."
Obama's plan to close the prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was seen as a move to address a chief source of ill will among Muslim nations since the hijacked jetliner attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001.
At least two other emotional highlights seem certain. Obama will visit the former Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald in Germany on June 5. And he will be in France to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the allies' invasion of Normandy on D-Day.
Obama, whose father was a Muslim from Kenya, said in Turkey last month that the United States "is not and never will be at war with Islam."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama chose Egypt because it "in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world." He later said the president will be addressing non-Arab Muslims as well, noting that non-Arab Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country and a place where Obama spent part of his childhood.
Read full story at: www.examiner.com
Egyptians' reception of Obama will be closely watched all over the world. With his Islamic name (Barack Hussein Obama) and family links to Islam, many Muslims are fascinated by the new U.S. president.
The much-anticipated speech will further Obama's efforts to cool down animosities that burst into flame 30 years ago when Iranians overran the U.S. embassy in Tehran, and were fueled by the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.In his inaugural address in January, he told the Muslim world "we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." He has granted interviews to Arabic-language networks, telephoned friendly Arab leaders and sent special envoy George J. Mitchell to the Middle East on a "listening tour."
Obama's plan to close the prison for suspected terrorists at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was seen as a move to address a chief source of ill will among Muslim nations since the hijacked jetliner attacks on New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001.
At least two other emotional highlights seem certain. Obama will visit the former Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald in Germany on June 5. And he will be in France to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the allies' invasion of Normandy on D-Day.
Obama, whose father was a Muslim from Kenya, said in Turkey last month that the United States "is not and never will be at war with Islam."
White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Obama chose Egypt because it "in many ways represents the heart of the Arab world." He later said the president will be addressing non-Arab Muslims as well, noting that non-Arab Indonesia is the world's largest Muslim country and a place where Obama spent part of his childhood.
Read full story at: www.examiner.com
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