CAIRO, June 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama wrapped up Thursday afternoon his nine-hour visit to Cairo, where he delivered a keynote speech aimed at a "new beginning" of relations with Muslims.
"I have come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world, one based on mutual interests and mutual respect," Obama said in his speech, which is attended by more than a thousand audiences in the Conference Hall of Cairo University.
"This cycle of suspicion and discord must end," Obama said, referring to the U.S.-Islam mistrust during the past eight years caused by his predecessor George W. Bush's anti-terrorism campaign that raised hostility in the Muslim world.
Obama said in addition to historical factors, the sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization left many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the Islam traditions, while a small minority of extremist Muslims have left some Americans to view Islam as hostile.
Though determined to improve U.S. ties with the Muslim world, Obama said "change cannot happen overnight" and that "no single speech can eradicate years of mistrust."
He said in order to move forward a new U.S.-Islam relationship, the two sides must open, listen to each other, to learn from each other, respect each other and seek a "common ground."
"Partnership between America and Islam must be based on what Islam is, not what it isn't," he said.
He pledged to shoulder the responsibility as U.S. president to "fight against negative Islam stereotype wherever they appears," while also expressing hope that the Islamic world do not bear stereotype of the United States.
Praising Islam's innovation and contribution to human civilization, Obama referred to the U.S. links with Islam and his own Islam background.
He said the United States has nearly seven million Muslims, who have enriched the country.
"Let there be no doubt, Islam is a part of America," he stressed.
Obama is a Christian, while his father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims, and he spent years of his childhood in Indonesia, a Muslim country.
Meanwhile, Obama reiterated the U.S. support for the two-state solution, which is in the interest of the world, urging the Israelis to stop settlements and the Palestinians, particularly Hamas, to abandon violence.
"The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met, through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security," he said.
The solution, outlined in the Road Map plan and the Saudi-proposed Arab Peace Initiative, has been snubbed by the right-leaning Israeli government.
Obama told visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 18 to freeze all settlement construction, including the "natural growth" of existing ones. But the call fell on deaf ears of the hawkish leader, who has never paid lip service to the two-state plan since taking office in late March.
He managed to speak in a more balanced tone towards the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"America's strong bond with Israel... is unbreakable... it is based on cultural and historical ties," he said.
But he pressured Israel to halt the settlement construction in occupied lands, which is the major obstacle for the renewal of peace talks.
"The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements," he said, adding that "it's time for these settlements to stop."
Meanwhile, he said the Americans "will not turn their backs" on the legitimate Palestinian state.
He urged Hamas, the militant group which controls the Gaza Strip, to "put an end to violence, recognize past agreements, recognize Israel's right to exist."
"The Arab states must recognize the Arab Peace Initiative was an important beginning, but not the end of their responsibilities."
The initiative, which embodies the two-state guideline, was proposed by Saudi Arabia and adopted in the Arab summit held in Beirut in 2002. It offers the Arab acceptance of the Jewish state in exchange for an independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders.
The president also touched on Iran's nuclear ambitions, reiterated that the United States is willing to move forward with Iran without any precondition.
"This issue has been a source of tension between the United States and Islamic Republic of Iran," he said, referring to Iran's controversial nuclear program, which accused by the West of trying to make a bomb.
"Any nation, including Iran, should have the right to access peaceful nuclear power, if it complies with the responsibilities of the nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty," he said, adding that "I am hopeful that all countries in the region can share in this goal."
Since he took office in January, Obama has made several overtures to Iran, calling for a "new beginning" of engagement with the Islamic Republic, which snubbed the overture in public and asked for more substantial changes of U.S. policies.
Obama has said soon after assuming the presidency that reducing spread of nuclear weapons in the world is a top priority for his administration.
It is suspected that Israel, with the U.S. aid and a large number of West-educated experts, has its own nuclear arsenal or at least the know-how.
"Americans seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons," said Obama, who was hailed by the audience.
Earlier in the morning, Obama held talks with his Egyptian counterpart Hosni Mubarak at the Quba Palace soon after landing.
Obama said at a press briefing that they discussed a wide range of issues, including the situation of the Israelis and Palestinians and how to bring about peace and prosperity to the region in a constructive way.
Later he paid a visit to the Sultan Hassan Mosque together with his top diplomat Hillary Clinton, who wore a headscarf.
Built in 14th century and featured on the Egyptian one hundred pound banknote, the mosque is considered the most compact and unified masterpiece of all Cairo monuments.
After the speech, Obama toured the Great Pyramids of Giza under the guide of Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Obama's Cairo visit is also part of a Mideast-Europe tour which will also take him to Germany and France.
 

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