President Barack Obama will lay out US policy toward the Middle East and North Africa in the coming weeks, Clinton told Arab and US policy makers in a speech at the US-Islamic World Forum, sponsored by Qatar and the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. Obama's launch of direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks last year went nowhere and he is under pressure to instigate a new initiative or face the prospect of the Palestinians seeking the United Nations General Assembly's approval for an independent Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, leaders from 30 Muslim majority countries attending the eighth annual World Forum told reporters they believe the Middle East talks should be the cornerstone of US-Muslim relations and they want Washington to take a more active role in seeking enduring solutions. A new study released at the forum shows the majority of Americans consider US-Muslim world relations as one of the top priorities facing the US in foreign policy, which helps explain the comprehensive speech and presence of the US secretary of state.

“America’s core interests and values have not changed, including our commitment to promote human rights, resolve long-standing conflicts, counter Iran's threats and defeat Al-Qaeda and its extremist allies,” Clinton said. “This includes renewed pursuit of comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.”

At a time of unprecedented change in the Arab world, with revolutions across the Middle East and North Africa, Clinton acknowledged timeliness of the gathering.

“This forum offers a chance to discuss the equally diverse set of challenges we face together — the need to confront violent extremism, the urgency of achieving a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, the importance of embracing tolerance and universal human rights in all of our communities,” said Clinton, adding: “I am especially proud that this year the forum is recognizing the contributions of the millions of American Muslims who do so much to make our country strong.”

To improve relations with the Middle East, some experts attending the event say the US must lighten its military footprint and improve its oft-perceived double standard when it comes to human rights issues in the region. "This is the first time in this history of the United States that a President has addressed the Muslim world this way," the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, told reporters in Washington. Ihsanoglu called for the US to participate more in solving conflicts in the Muslim world, in particular the long-running dispute between Israelis and Palestinians.

Ihsanoglu also met this week with US officials, including Marc Grossman, US special representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

US Muslim Congressmen Keith Ellison and Andre Carson, also attended the forum and spoke about relations between Muslims and the United States, including problems faced by Muslims in the West.

Ihsanoglu said the Obama administration must follow through on it pledges to better relations between the US and the Muslim world with "concrete steps."

He said the growing anti Islamic feeling in the West is a contemporary manifestation of racism and must be addressed in that context, adding that Muslims have been subjected to various forms of scrutiny, suspicion and negative stereotyping in the entire Western world.

Ihsanoglu called for dialogue, structured and sustained engagement to address the whole range of similar issues.

He said there will be an evaluation on the developments and what effect this forum has had in enhancing the relations between the people of the US and people of the Muslim world.

“The US- Islamic world Forum involves leaders from civil society — the business sector, former government officials, and sitting government officials a societal dialogue which is designed to try to build bridges of understanding,” said Martin Indyk, vice president of foreign policy for the Brookings Institute, and former US ambassador to Israel and Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs during the Clinton administration.

He said the forum’s purpose goes beyond the airing of the issues and the understanding of the other side's perspective, "it is to actually built networks and partnership, joint projects between US and Muslim partners.”