<!-- IMAGE -->U.S. President Barack Obama has made it clear from the beginning of his presidency that good relations as well as a strong working relationship between the United States and the Islamic states are a high-priority goal of his administration. “Let me say this as clearly as I can: the United States is not – and will never be — at war with Islam," said President Obama to the Turkish Parliament on April 6th. "The United States has been enriched by Muslim-Americans. Many other Americans have Muslims in their family, or have lived in a Muslim-majority country. I know, because I am one of them.”
On June 4th, Mr. Obama will again build upon the messages he delivered in his first foreign interview with Al-Arabiya and his address to the Turkish Parliament as he delivers a global address on U.S. and Muslim relations in Cairo. Egypt sits at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. It is also the intellectual center for Sunni Islamic thought, and Al-Azhar University, a 1000-year-old institution of higher learning with a student body of 200 thousand, is the most important theological institute in the Muslim world.
The President's speech will build upon his commitment to engagement, based upon mutual interests and mutual respect. It will lay out ways the United States and Muslim communities around the world can bridge some of the differences that have divided them and focus on new areas for partnership going forward that serve the mutual interests of our people.
On June 4th, Mr. Obama will again build upon the messages he delivered in his first foreign interview with Al-Arabiya and his address to the Turkish Parliament as he delivers a global address on U.S. and Muslim relations in Cairo. Egypt sits at the crossroads of Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. It is also the intellectual center for Sunni Islamic thought, and Al-Azhar University, a 1000-year-old institution of higher learning with a student body of 200 thousand, is the most important theological institute in the Muslim world.
The President's speech will build upon his commitment to engagement, based upon mutual interests and mutual respect. It will lay out ways the United States and Muslim communities around the world can bridge some of the differences that have divided them and focus on new areas for partnership going forward that serve the mutual interests of our people.