Gulf Hails ‘Muslim-linked’ Obama

Gulf hails ‘Muslim-linked’ Obama
Kuwait Times
Published Date: November 06, 2008
DUBAI
Arabs in the oil-rich Gulf yesterday hailed Barack Obama’s election victory with hopes his perceived Muslim links could alter US policy toward Arab and Muslim issues and that he will pull out troops of Iraq.

“I believe that his father is Muslim. Surely that will make a difference. There must be a change in policy towards Arabs and Muslims,” said Saudi tourist Abdul Ilah Al-Bakri as he wandered in a Dubai mall for early morning shopping just after Obama was declared president-elect. “God willing, he will be better, especially that he said he wants to withdraw US troops from Iraq,” Bakri said.

Saudi businessman Ali Al-Harithi hailed the US democracy which brought a man with a Muslim father to the White House. “This confirms that the United States and its people are not racist. The American people chose Obama, who is African (by origin) and whose father is Muslim, to voice rejection of policies of the conservatives in the outgoing administration,” he said. “It also sends a message to (Islamic) fundamentalists in the Arab and Muslim worlds that our clash with America has no racial or religious dimensions,” Harithi added.

In a message of congratulations, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas urged Obama to accelerate efforts to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. Abbas “hopes he will speed up efforts to achieve peace, particularly since a resolution of the Palestinian problem and the Israeli-Arab conflict is key to world peace,” his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II, a key US ally in the troubled Middle East, sent Obama a cable congratulating him and said he looked forward to cooperation with Washington to “resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in line with a two-state solution.” Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, whose country is also a staunch US ally, said in a message that he too hoped Obama would work toward a just peace settlement in the Middle East.

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip, urged the Democratic Obama to learn from the “mistakes” of previous US administrations in dealing with Muslim and Arab countries. Spokesman Fawzi Barhum accused the Bush’s Republican administration of having “destroyed Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine”.

The Iraqi government said it will cooperate with Obama “to achieve the joint interest of the two sides, preserve the security and stability of Iraq, maintain full sovereignty of Iraq and protect the interests of its people.” But Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari ruled out a US policy of “quick disengagement,” dispelling hopes of many Iraqis of a rapid US troop withdrawal. “There won’t be quick disengagement here. A great deal is at stake,” Zebari told AFP. “We don’t think there will be change in policy overn ight.
Obama has promised to withdraw US forces from Iraq over 16 months from his inauguration in January. Many Iraqis urged the president-elect to make good on his promise and ensure the rapid withdrawal of the 145,000-strong American force from Iraq. The movement of Iraq’s anti-American cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr also welcomed Obama’s triumph.

“We consider his victory as a wish of the American public to withdraw forces from Iraq,” spokesman Sheikh Saleh Al-Obeidi said.

Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sabah said he hoped Obama would “find a solution to the world’s oldest political problem, that of the Palestinian people”. On Iran, he underlined the hopes of the US-allied Arab monarchies in the oil-rich Gulf for a peaceful settlement to the nuclear issue through the United Nations.

Lebanon’s parliament speaker Nahih Berri praised America’s “great democracy”. “Now it is up to the young president to bring about change starting with the Middle East crisis and by addressing the injustice done to the people of the region, notably the Palestinians,” Berri said.

The initial mood on the Arab street was optimistic. “It’s historic. We didn’t think there would be a black American president so soon, especially after Bush’s eight years,” said Cairo saleswoman Suzie Ahmed. Hossam Bahgat, an Egyptian rights activist, said: “The campaign itself did a lot to repair the damage done to the image of the United States over the past eight years. So there is a strange sense of accomplishment, but also of course the nervousness of expecting big disappointments when it comes to our region,” he told Reuters. “I’m worried he might need to prove that he is a strong president or … that he puts America’s interests first.

Wild Thing’s comment………
Commander in Sheik’s roundup of his Muslim supporters. OK so much for the freakin Arab roll call. Obama brings new meaning to the book written awhile back called ” Tea with Terrorists”.

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