Obama speech raises hopes of new era between West, Islam
Friday, 5 June 2009
PARIS, June 4 (AFP) : International leaders on Thursday hailed President Barack Obama's speech on relations with the Muslim world as opening a "new page" and even some arch-US foes said they detected signs of change by the world superpower.
Every word of the speech was quickly studied across the Middle East and Muslim world. Top Israeli ministers went into a special meeting to consider a reaction to the landmark address in Cairo.
Obama vowed to forge a "new beginning" for Islam and America to end a cycle of "suspicion and discord." He laid out a new US blueprint for the Middle East, including a new Palestinian state and efforts to defuse a nuclear showdown with Iran.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said: "It was a remarkable speech, a speech that without any doubt is going to open a new page in the relation with the Arab-Muslim world and I hope in the problems we have in so many theatres in the region."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called senior ministers and aides to a special meeting to decide how to react to the speech, in which Obama called the Palestinian situation "intolerable".
Netanyahu ordered ministers not to speak about the speech until the official reaction is released, an official said.
The Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers gave a conciliatory response to Obama's speech in which he also called on the militant group to recognise Israel's right to exist.
"It had many contradictions, all the while reflecting tangible change," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP. "It is a speech that plays on sentiment and is filled with civilities, which leads us to believe that he aimed to embellish America's image in the world."
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not mention Obama's event, but in his own speech said the United States is detested across the Middle East.
"The nations in the region hate the United States from the bottom of their hearts because they have seen violence, military intervention and discrimination," Khamenei said addressing thousands of Iranians on the 20th anniversary of the death of the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
"The new US government seeks to transform this image. I say firmly, that this will not be achieved by talking, speech and slogans," he said.
Obama said the showdown with Iran over its nuclear programme had reached a decisive point but that Tehran had the right to peaceful nuclear power if it abided by international treaties. He said Washington wanted to move forward in relations with Tehran.
Every word of the speech was quickly studied across the Middle East and Muslim world. Top Israeli ministers went into a special meeting to consider a reaction to the landmark address in Cairo.
Obama vowed to forge a "new beginning" for Islam and America to end a cycle of "suspicion and discord." He laid out a new US blueprint for the Middle East, including a new Palestinian state and efforts to defuse a nuclear showdown with Iran.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said: "It was a remarkable speech, a speech that without any doubt is going to open a new page in the relation with the Arab-Muslim world and I hope in the problems we have in so many theatres in the region."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called senior ministers and aides to a special meeting to decide how to react to the speech, in which Obama called the Palestinian situation "intolerable".
Netanyahu ordered ministers not to speak about the speech until the official reaction is released, an official said.
The Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers gave a conciliatory response to Obama's speech in which he also called on the militant group to recognise Israel's right to exist.
"It had many contradictions, all the while reflecting tangible change," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP. "It is a speech that plays on sentiment and is filled with civilities, which leads us to believe that he aimed to embellish America's image in the world."
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei did not mention Obama's event, but in his own speech said the United States is detested across the Middle East.
"The nations in the region hate the United States from the bottom of their hearts because they have seen violence, military intervention and discrimination," Khamenei said addressing thousands of Iranians on the 20th anniversary of the death of the revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
"The new US government seeks to transform this image. I say firmly, that this will not be achieved by talking, speech and slogans," he said.
Obama said the showdown with Iran over its nuclear programme had reached a decisive point but that Tehran had the right to peaceful nuclear power if it abided by international treaties. He said Washington wanted to move forward in relations with Tehran.