DOHA, 21 Jan 2009: Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said today he hoped that the United States administration under new president Barack Obama would pave the way towards a new US attitude when addressing problems faced by the Muslim world.
“I welcome his inaugural speech and I am sure there will be a big change in the foreign policy of the United States, especially on certain aspects that are regarded as very confrontational.
“I hope America will be more ready to engage in discussions and to consult and not do what it has been doing before, for example on certain policies regarded as very confrontational,” he told the media at the end of his two-day visit to Qatar today.
Abdullah was commenting on that part of Obama’s speech after the swearing-in where the US president had stated: “To the Muslim world, we seek a new way forward, based on mutual interest and mutual respect.”
The prime minister said the statement was positive as per Obama’s attitude towards the problems faced in the Islamic world which the United States was associated with.
Abdullah said America was a huge country and if it was willing to listen to the voices of the smaller countries it would be good for the future of the world.
On the implementation of a new US foreign policy, Abdullah said: “We have yet to see. He (Obama) had said the right thing (which) we are very happy with.
“A statement has been made and what we need to do is to wait and see what move he is going to make and how fast he is going to act.
“We welcome his (Obama) statement but we will like to see the action to be taken,” he said. — Bernama
