Obama reaches out to Muslims, Middle East

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By Dale Gavlack, THE WASHINGTON TIMES

UPDATED:

AMMAN, Jordan — The world watched Tuesday as the United States inaugurated a new president, perhaps nowhere with as much anticipation and divided emotion as in the Middle East.

In his speech, President Obama made a special point of reaching out to the world's Muslims, many of whom rejected his predecessor's policies for causing chaos and suffering in Iraq and failing to bring peace and statehood to the Palestinians.

"To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect," Mr. Obama said.

Amman shopkeeper Farouk abu-Zeid told The Washington Times that the turning of the page on the Bush administration couldn't come soon enough.

"We faced so much trouble during President Bush's term, but now we're looking forward to President Obama to do something to improve things, whether peace in the region or the global financial crisis," the 56-year-old merchant said.

"He should be nice to our area," Mr. abu-Zeid said. "Let people live in peace. This is all we want, especially for Palestine and Iraq." A Palestinian doctor in Amman also expressed hope that Mr. Obama could end the region's chronic conflicts.

"President Obama wants to replace the gun with dialogue," Jihad Barghouti said. "Arabs, both ordinary people and their leaders, should stop their defiance and insults of the U.S. administration and the American people. 'Yes, we can' must be the way forward for us all," he said.

Others were more skeptical.

"Yes, President Obama is bright, charismatic and capable, but the extent that he can make change is very limited," said Amr Baytaneh, 45, a Jordanian businessman.