JAKARTA, Jan 21: Muslim leaders on Wednesday cautiously welcomed President Barack Obama’s promise of a fresh start to US relations with the Muslim world and moves to halt war on terror trials at Guantanamo Bay.

Obama’s inauguration speech sent ripples of expectation across the Muslim world that the new administration would quickly set about repairing the rift that emerged under the presidency of George Bush.

“To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect,” Obama said on Tuesday after taking the oath of office.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai hailed the inauguration of Obama as the start of a “promising new era of understanding” between Kabul and Washington. His office reiterated calls for the prison to be closed.

Makarim Wibisono, a former Indonesian ambassador to the United Nations, said that Obama’s call was “a good sign leading to the closure of the camp.”

However, Obama’s failure to directly refer to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza caused some Muslim analysts to doubt his sincerity.

Maskuri Abdilah, head of the Nahdlatul Ulama – Indonesia’s largest Muslim organisation with some 60 million followers — said Obama dodged the one issue at the core of the Muslim world’s concerns.

“It is very good that Obama wants to find a ‘new way forward’ with the Muslim world but first he has to change US policy over Israel and the Palestinian conflict,” he said.

“This is crucial because this problem is the root of all violence and tension between the Islamic world and the West.”

The world’s largest Muslim organisation also congratulated America’s first black president and urged him to help foster a constructive dialogue between Islam and the West.

The new presidency raises hopes for “the beginning of a more fruitful and better-informed dialogue between the West and the Muslim world,” said the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.

“We firmly believe that America, with your guidance, can help foster that peace, though real peace can only be shared — never imposed. A nation can either be great or feared, but rarely both at the same time.” The OIC, which represents 1.5 billion Muslims in 56 countries plus the Palestinian territories, said Muslims “have compelling strategic and moral reasons to cooperate and peacefully co-exist with the United States.” —AFP