(Politico).Obama's belief in the power of his personal ties to the Arab and Muslim world was a theme early in his political career, but vanished for most of the presidential campaign. It's returned now.
The remarks before his meeting with King Abdullah, distributed just now by the White House, offer one more thing he wouldn't have done on the trail: Say 'thank you' in Arabic:
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AND KING ABDULLAH OF SAUDI ARABIA BEFORE MEETING
PRESIDENT OBAMA: This is my first visit to Saudi Arabia, but I've had several conversations with His Majesty. And I've been struck by his wisdom and his graciousness. Obviously the United States and Saudi Arabia have a long history of friendship, we have a strategic relationship. And as I take this trip and we'll be visiting Cairo tomorrow, I thought it was very important to come to the place where Islam began and to seek His Majesty's counsel and to discuss with him many of the issues that we confront here in the Middle East.......
KING ABDULLAH: (As translated.) I thank you, Mr. President, for the kind words and the kind sentiments expressed within them. I am not surprised, given the historic and strategic ties between our two countries.....I also want to express my best wishes to the friendly American people who are represented by a distinguished man who deserves to be in this position.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Shukran.
No comments:
Post a Comment