'World ready for the message.' Obama
Photo: AP
Obama looks to mend America's image in Muslim world
US president-elect tells Chicago Tribune he plans to give 'major address' in an Islamic capital soon after taking office, but adds his administration will be 'unyielding in stamping out terrorist extremism we saw in Mumbai'
President-elect Barack Obama plans to give "a major address" in an Islamic capital soon after taking office as he seeks to mend America's image in the Muslim world, a Chicago Tribune interview said.
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"I think we've got a unique opportunity to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular," Obama said in the interview published late Tuesday on the Tribune's website.
Obama promised an "unrelenting" desire to "create a relationship of mutual respect and partnership in countries and with peoples of good will who want their citizens and ours to prosper together."
The world "is ready for that message."
While he described a fresh approach to diplomacy, Obama said his administration would not shrink from the struggle against terrorism, referring to the recent attacks on India's financial capital.
"The message I want to send is that we will be unyielding in stamping out the terrorist extremism we saw in Mumbai," said Obama, who gave the interview from his transition team's offices in Chicago.
'I'm not trying to make a statement'
The Tribune wrote that Obama "plans to give a major address in an Islamic capital as part of his global outreach" but did not quote him directly.
Obama also said he would be sworn on January 20 using his full name, Barack Hussein Obama.
During the presidential campaign, some of Obama's political opponents would refer to his middle name in an attempt to portray him as a secret Muslim.
But the Christian president-elect said he would follow tradition for the inauguration ceremony.
"I think the tradition is that they use all three names, and I will follow the tradition," Obama told the paper. "I'm not trying to make a statement one way or another. I'll do what everybody else does."
