Muslims Praise Obama's Rhetoric

President Obama's inauguration speech has earned a warm reception by several prominent Muslim leaders, Reuters reports. In the view of Former Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, the president's proposal of "a new way forward with the Muslim world" suggested a welcome contrast to the Bush administration. "This is a speech that reflected a new spirit of dialogue, reaching out and working together," he said. Essam el-Erian, head of the Muslim Brotherhood's political committee, a dissenting Muslim faction in Egypt, praised the speech's tone of tolerance towards the Muslim world: "We need mutual respect. If this attitude persists, I think it will transform relations between the United States and Arabs." Others are more skeptical about the connection between rhetoric and action. Abdelilah Benkirane, chief of the main Islamist opposition party in Morocco, noted that, "We are waiting for action, for deeds... He does not rule America alone."