Obama gets right to work

UPDATED:

President Obama took immediate action on his first full day in office to address the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, calling four foreign leaders at the heart of the decades-long struggle that has been inflamed by brutal fighting over the last month in Gaza.

“He used this opportunity on his first day in office to communicate his commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term, and to express his hope for their continued cooperation and leadership,” said White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, in an e-mailed statement.

Prior to a morning worship service at National Cathedral, the new president called Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, King Abdullah of Jordan, and Palestinian Authority President President Mahmoud Abbas.

As Israeli troops completed a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip Wednesday after more than three weeks of fighting that killed more than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis, Mr. Obama pushed for two specific measures to “help consolidate the ceasefire” reached recently between Israel and the militant Palestinian group Hamas.

Mr. Gibbs said that the president talked of “etablishing an effective anti-smuggling regime to prevent Hamas from rearming, and facilitating, in partnership with the Palestinian Authority, a major reconstruction effort for Palestinians in Gaza.”

“He pledged that the United States would do its part to make these efforts successful, working closely with the international community and these partners as they fulfill their responsibilities as well,” Mr. Gibbs said. “The President appreciated the spirit of partnership and warm nature of these calls.”

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The president was also poised to issue an executive order in the next day or two ordering the closure of the Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba, White House aides told the Washington Times. One draft of the order circulated by the Obama administration to outside groups, seeking input, said that Mr. Obama will close the facility within a year and transfer some prisoners to U.S. detention facilities and others to their country of origin, according to the Associated Press.

Mr. Obama already on Tuesday, immediately after being sworn in, requested that a federal judge suspend all military commission trials of suspected terrorists. The request was granted.

In a motion filed in the government’s case against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who the government has named as the mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, prosecutors said the new administration is going to review all of the cases of those held at Guantanamo Bay.

The prosecutors said the new administration wants to “determine whether prosecution may be warranted for any offenses those detainees may have committed, and to determine which forum best suits any future prosecution.”

Mr. Obama had planned meetings in the afternoon on the economy and the war in Iraq, executive orders that will raise ethics standards for government employees, and an open house with invited guests from the city.

Following the worship service, Mr. Obama returned to the White House for a swearing-in ceremony for White House staff, in the Vice President’s ceremonial office inside the Executive Office building.

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