Azerbaijan, Baku, May 14 / Trend , U.Sadikova /
Considering the desire of Barack Obama to build a US-Islamic dialogue, he can earn the trust of the Muslim world, but this is only possible through supporting Israeli-Palestinian dialogue and ending the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, experts consider.
On June 1, the Head of the White House Obama will visit Egypt, the first Arab country where he will announce the future plans with regards to the Muslim countries, as well as U.S. policy in the Middle East, Al Jazeera website reported.
Formerly, Obama announced regarding the call for the dialogue with the Muslim countries during his first visit to the Muslim country, Turkey, saying that the USA never waged war against Islam and Muslims and that the USA partnership with the Muslim world should not be built only through the prism of the struggle of the United States against to Al-Qaeda, Turkish TV channel TRT-2 reported.
"The war of the USA is against terror, but not Islam," he said, AFP reported.
The relations between the United States and Muslim countries have been strained because of U.S. support for Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, but the peak tension was reached after the war started by George W. Bush administration in Afghanistan against the terrorist organization al-Qaeda and the Taliban, and later in Iraq in 2003.
The leaders of the Islamic countries also criticized Bush's financial and diplomatic support for Israel in the conflict with the Arab countries.
Former White House Administration accused Arab politicians and states, such as Syria, of supporting international terrorism.
But during his visit to Turkey, Obama indicated that the United States seeks full cooperation with the Muslims based on mutual respect and interests.
Barack Obama has a chance to restore the trust of the Muslim world, since his visit to Turkey and later to Egypt shows that he is serious in his intentions with regards to the Islamic world, Bashshar Abdel Fattah, political commentator of Egyptian Al-Ahram newspaper, told Trend in a telephone conversation from Cairo.
However, in order to improve relations with the Muslim countries, it is not enough to only express the desire to start a dialogue, but it is important to demonstrate the actions in this direction, such as the withdrawal of the American troops from Iraq and put an end to the expansion of Israeli control over the Palestinian territories, said Davud Abdullah, Deputy Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain.
"Yet Obama has not say anything about the destruction of Palestinian homes and the Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israel, and this causes the anger in the Muslim world, Abdullah told Trend by telephone from London. - Also, the USA must stop killing civilians in Afghanistan and fully withdraw troops from Iraq".
After his inauguration as the President, Obama stated that withdrawal of troops from Iraq will start in August 2009, which should be completed by 2011. However, some American units will remain in Iraq to train local security forces.
In order to convince the Muslim countries of the seriousness of his intentions, Obama should re-consider its policy in Afghanistan and Iraq, said Charles Butterworth, professor of Islamic politics at the University of Maryland.
"That means he must put an end to fighting and being to build civil infra-structures," Butterworth told Trend via e-mail.
Observers also believe that Obama's chances in relations with the Islamic world may increase if he would reconsider the U.S. support for Israel in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.
The Head of the White House has repeatedly said that Washington supports the creation of an independent Palestinian state, against which the right government in Israel opposes.
Butterworth considers that Obama must also indicate that the US refuses to endorse and support by massive financial contributions to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.
"That will require great strength and firm leadership--qualities that have been lacking in the US for far too long," he said.
Large Jewish organization AIPAC has strong influence in the United States, the conferences of which are attended high-ranking officials of Washington. In addition, Israel gets 97 percent of the arms from the United States.
"The Muslim world won't be so justify angry towards the US if we don't have such unbalanced policy towards Israel, especially in Palestinian - Israeli conflict," said Anthony Sullivan, Director of the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies at the University of Michigan.
"The Palestinian issue is the main source of contention of the alienation of the Islamic world from the West," Sullivan told Trend in a telephone conversation. - With the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli problem, the Muslims will not be so strongly biased against the USA, but the question is when and how Obama will be able to do this.
Choosing Egypt as a place to appeal Muslims means that the U.S. President is seeking to succeed in his relations with the Islamic world, experts believe.
Cairo is a mediator in many issues in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as well as in internal policies in Palestine. Also, the Egyptian government, which has diplomatic ties with Israel, is one of the largest Arab allies of the USA in the region.
"Egypt is the center for peace in the Middle East and for the future stability in the region, said Abdel Fattah. - Obama understands that Egypt is necessary for Israel's reconciliation with the Palestinians and Syrians."
However, it is not excluded that choosing Egypt is a policy of involving all political factions in the Middle East in relations with the United States, as well as returning to Egypt its influence in the region, lost during the war in the Gaza Strip.
During the Israeli attack on Gaza in December and January, Egypt refused to open the Raffi checkpoint for the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave.
"Egypt is the center of US policy in the region, but it seems that Egypt is getting to lose its role in Islamic world, especially after Cairo's policy was unsuccessful [during the war in Gaza]," said Abdullah.
American analyst Sullivan believes that Obama wants to make clear to Egypt that the peace and democracy in the region require that all political parties, including Islamist organization Muslim Brotherhood, must be included in the political process.
"The USA wants democracy in the world, which means that each group, which does not have violence, has the full right to participate in politics," said Sullivan.
If the United States speaks about democracy in the world, it is essential that in order to justify these words Obama must begin a dialogue with all sides of the Muslim world, not only with its allies, he added.
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