Muslims want more than fine talk from Obama

By Alistair Lyon, Special Correspondent - Analysis

BEIRUT (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama has awoken hope for redress of grievances in the hearts of some of the more than a billion Muslims scattered in diverse communities across the globe.

To win their minds, skeptical after a "war on terror" waged by his predecessor George W. Bush that many saw as an assault on Islam, Obama must follow his speech to the Muslim world this week with evidence of real change in U.S. policy and outlook.

That, at least, is a common thread stressed by politicians and analysts from Muslim-majority countries -- as is the urgency of U.S. action to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

From Kuala Lumpur to Kabul, from Ramallah to Riyadh, the messages for Obama throb with that central concern, along with a yearning for a break from the divisive, militaristic, pro-Israel stance many Muslims associate with the eight-year Bush era.

"It's not too late to repair relations between the U.S. and the Muslim world," said Tifatul Sembiring, president of an Islamist party in Indonesia, home to the world's largest Muslim population. "But Obama has to give us some proof that there will not be another opportunistic war, such as happened in Iraq."

Sembiring, who leads the PKS (Partai Keadilan Sejahtera or Prosperous Justice Party), homed in on the Palestinian issue.

"Are they (the Americans) serious about creating a real solution for Palestine? We are waiting for justice on this."

Obama's best chance to win over Muslims and Arabs was to use Washington's leverage on its Israeli ally, said Saudi political analyst Turad al-Amri. "By pressuring Israel, Obama will win in more than one area -- in terrorism, the Iran file, Lebanon."

The U.S. president has said Israel must halt all settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank, a demand that sets him on a collision course with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

DEEDS NOT WORDS

For PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat, Obama's task was to ensure creation of a Palestinian state. "People of this region don't want to hear words any more. They want to see deeds," he said.

In Kabul, Afghan lawmaker Sabrina Saqib said Obama's roots, as a black American with a Muslim father, meant he understood deprivation and would work to settle the Palestinian issue.

"One speech will not work, but it's good for a start," she said of Obama's planned address on Thursday. "When you pay homage to others and respect them, you enliven their spirit."

Even foes of U.S. policy acknowledge Obama has struck a new tone, but say his outreach to Iran and Syria and pledge to press for Middle East peace have yet to shift the political landscape.

"The change of U.S. language under Obama must be translated on the ground," said Ali Baraka, deputy representative of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement in Damascus.