WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama on Friday pledged “concrete actions” to renew ties with the Muslim world, in a message marking the start of Ramadan.
“I want to reiterate my commitment to a new beginning between America and Muslims around the world,” Obama said in a video address posted as the world’s estimated 1.5 billion Muslims begin a month of fasting and reflection.
Friday’s address echoed Obama’s landmark address in Cairo in June, when he laid out a new blueprint for US Middle East policy, pledging to end festering mistrust.
Since then, Obama said US embassies in the Muslim world had held consultations with governments and citizens and he was now focused on pursuing concrete actions. “We have listened. We have heard you,” he said.
The president also pledged “unyielding” support for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and to “responsibly end the war in Iraq.”
“I know this to be a festive time,” Obama said, alluding to his father’s Muslim background.
Ramadan begins Saturday in most of the Arab world and Iran. All Libyans as well Shiites in Lebanon began their fasting on Friday.
Obama congratulated the Afghan people for pulling off a presidential election in the midst of violent intimidation by Taleban militants but cautioned that more difficult days lie ahead for the war-weary nation.
“This is an important step forward in the Afghan people’s efforts to take control of their future even as violent extremists are trying to stand in their way,” Obama said at the White House before boarding Marine One for a flight to the presidential mountaintop retreat at Camp David, Md.
