Obama’s olive branch in Islamic green

Hurriyet Daily News with wires

refid:10870352 ilişkili resim dosyası

In an interview with the Saudi-owned, Dubai-based Al-Arabiya satellite television network, U.S. President Obama also urged Israelis and Palestinians to return to the negotiating table and offered a diplomatic hand to Iranian leaders if they "unclenched their fist."

The interview underscored the new U.S. president's commitment to repair relations with the Muslim world that have suffered under the previous administration.

"My job to the Muslim world is to communicate that the Americans are not your enemy," Obama said.

He noted that the U.S. had made mistakes in the past, but "that the same respect and partnership that America had with the Muslim world as recently as 20 or 30 years ago, there's no reason why we can't restore that."

Obama also called for a new partnership with the Muslim world "based on mutual respect and mutual interest." He talked about growing up in Indonesia, the Muslim world's most populous nation, and noted that he has Muslim relatives.


Obama, who has promised to directly address Middle East questions at the start of his presidency rather than waiting for years like his predecessor George W. Bush, said he did not want expectations raised too high for swift progress for Middle East peace, following the Israeli war against Hamas in Gaza.

"I believe that the moment is ripe for both sides to realize that the path that they are on is one that is not going to result in prosperity and security for their people. Instead, it's time to return to the negotiating table," the U.S. president said, according to a report by Agence France-Presse. Obama also said in the interview that Washington would in the next few months lay out a general framework of policy towards Tehran.

"As I said in my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us."

"It is very important for us to make sure that we are using all the tools of U.S. power, including diplomacy, in our relationship with Iran," Obama said. Earlier, Susan Rice, the new U.S. ambassador to the United Nations made her debut and pledged "vigorous" and "direct" nuclear diplomacy with Iran but warned of increased pressure if Tehran refuses to halt uranium enrichment. "We will look at what is necessary and appropriate with respect to maintaining pressure toward that goal of ending Iran's nuclear program."

’Al-Qaeda seems nervous’

Obama also noted that recent statements and messages issued by the al-Qaeda terror network suggest they do not know how to deal with his new approach. "They seem nervous," he told the interviewer. "What that tells me is that their ideas are bankrupt," the Associated Press quoted him as saying.

During his presidency, former President George W. Bush gave several interviews to Al-Arabiya, but the wars he launched in Iraq and Afghanistan prompted a massive backlash against the U.S. in the Muslim world. Al-Arabiya has scored interviews with top U.S. officials in the past, including Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The Saudi-owned channel is seen by some in Washington as more balanced in its coverage than its Qatar-funded rival Al-Jazeera, which the previous White House administration complained had an anti-American bias.