Barack Obama on how to battle extremism and violence

President Barack Obama has promised a "new beginning" in US relations with the Muslim world. The aspirations of Muslim countries "need not be in competition" with American foreign policy, Mr Obama said in a keynote speech at Cairo University, Egypt. He said violent extremists have exploited tensions between Muslims and the West, and that Islam was not part of the problem but part of promoting peace. The President said he would "personally pursue" a two-state solution as the only way to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but did not offer any new Middle East initiative. He promised the US would continue to pursue Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, saying: "None of us should tolerate these extremists. "They have killed in many countries. They have killed people of different faiths. More than any other, they have killed Muslims." He added: "Their actions are irreconcilable with the rights of human beings, the progress of nations, and with Islam. "The Holy Koran teaches that whoever kills an innocent, it is as if he has killed all mankind; and whoever saves a person, it is as if he has saved all mankind." Prior to the address, Mr Obama held bilateral talks with President Hosni Mubarak. The two-day tour of the Middle East is seen as a continuation of the President's efforts to "change the conversation" with the Islamic community, one aide to the administration has said. After delivering his remarks at Cairo University, Mr Obama will tour the Pyramids and Sphinx before heading off to Germany for a two-day European visit. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden has told Muslims that alliances with Christians and Jews would annul their faith and called on them to fight allies of the "infidels" in Muslim countries. The remarks came as part of a recording, some of which was aired by Al Jazeera television on Wednesday.

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ITN | June 4, 2009

Tags:. .faith. .germany. .prior. .conflict. .teaches