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June 4, 2009

West Africans React to Obama Speech
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=2498B71:A6F02AD83191E16068DD08074E7D20F0D937473925D9872C&
 
Some impressed, some underwhelmed 
President Barack Obama delivers speech in Cairo, Egypt, 04 Jun 2009Many
Muslims in West Africa watched U.S. President Barack Obama's
speech from Cairo as he called for a new beginning between the United
States and the world's one billion Muslims, to end what he says is a
cycle of "suspicion and discord." The U.S. Embassy in Mauritania invited
people to watch President Barack Obama's speech live in an embassy
conference room. Mouhamed
Yahya Ould Wedoude says he was impressed. "It reflects new policies of
the United States, so it also represents a new vision to the world, a
new vision to the Islamic world particularly," he said.

"So I think
that it is a very positive speech and also it will impress a lot of
people in the Islamic world to think of the attitudes of the United
States," he added. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Zubeda Buhendwa
says President Obama's speech is a chance to change misperceptions."I
think it is a good idea if he can change the minds of all American
people who think that Muslims are criminals," said Buhendwa. "And if
he can do the same in the Muslim world who think also that Americans
are the enemies of Islam. I hope that it can be possible if he is
honest."In Niger, Amadou Morou says it was a speech against extremism
both in the United States and in other countries. Morou
says we should put an end to the mistrust that exists between different
cultures and religions in the world. American Christians should stop
mistrusting Islam as a religion and should not confuse the extremism of
terrorists with Islam. In Cameroon, Nchechuma Banla says the
president spoke frankly. "My wish is that the declarations by President
Obama inspires action to put an end to the hotspots in the Middle
East," he said. Banla says it was important that President Obama
recognized the right of Palestinians to have their own state."If
President Obama is making this declaration, we hope that he will be
able to exert pressure on Israel to recognize Palestine as an
independent state," he said. In Senegal, Mouhamadou Barro was
underwhelmed by a speech that he says did not go far enough. Barro
says President Obama spoke at length about the death toll from the
September 11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, but failed
to address how many people have been killed by U.S. troops in Iraq.
Barro
says President Obama did not hold Israel to account for the violence it
has inflicted on Palestinian civilians, asking why the U.S. leader did
not bring up the latest Israeli incursions into Gaza. 


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