Obama's Middle East policy shift questioned
- Source: The Global Times
- [03:45 June 04 2009]
- Comments
By Kang Juan
Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud welcomes US President Barack Obama to his ranch in al-Janadriya on the outskirts of Riyadh yesterday. Obama arrived in Saudi Arabia to begin his mission to the Middle East, where he is reaching out to the world’s Muslims and promoting peace. Photo: AFP
US President Barack Obama flew to Saudi Arabia yesterday on his first Middle East mission, delivering a much-anticipated address to the Muslim world in Cairo and a new drive to revive regional peacemaking.
While observing Obama sending different messages to the Arab and Muslim worlds, Chinese experts doubted there would be a real post-Bush change that could lead to a breakthrough in the Middle East peace process.
Al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden scorned yesterday Obama’s overture to the Islamic world and warned of decades of conflict in an audiotape released less than an hour after the US president landed in Saudi Arabia.
Obama is due to give what media have described as an “historical address” today in Cairo, another pillar of the Arab world, delivering a personal appeal for reconciliation to the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, and holding his first talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
In yesterday’s meeting with Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Obama was expected to seek backing for an emerging US strategy of binding Arab states into a wider search for Israeli- Palestinian peace and to defuse regional tensions.
King Abdullah has been seeking to re-launch a 2002 Arab-backed Middle East peace initiative, which has been praised and embellished by the Obama administration.
The initiative calls for full normalization of relations between Arab states and Israel, a full withdrawal by Israel from Arab territories, the creation of a Palestinian state and an “equitable” solution for Palestinian refugees.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the head of a largely
right-wing cabinet, is sharply at odds with the White House on these key issues. There was concern in Israel that Obama’s outreach to Muslims could come at the expense of the US-Israeli alliance.
In a move that could further ratchet up tensions, Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz reported yesterday that Obama intends to give Netanyahu up to six weeks to present an “updated position” on settlement construction and the two-state principle.