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Obama: 'Sustained effort' needed for peace

CAIRO, June 4 (UPI) -- U.S. President Obama confronted three sensitive subjects Thursday in Cairo: extremists, Israeli-Palestinian-Arab relations and nuclear weapons.

"Words alone cannot meet the needs of our people," Obama said in his address to the world's Muslim community, recognizing that one speech won't address all issues. "These needs will be met only if we act boldly in the years ahead; and if we understand that the challenges we face are shared, and our failure to meet them will hurt us all."

Reaffirming that America "is not and never will be at war with Islam" Obama said the United States will confront "violent extremists" who pose a threat.

"Indeed, none of us should tolerate these extremists," the president said. "They have killed in many countries ... (and) people of different faiths" including Muslims.

Concerning tensions among Arabs nations and Israel, Obama pointed out that both Israeli and Palestinians have had a bloody history on their paths to independence.

"(If) we see this conflict only from one side or the other, then we will be blind to the truth: The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states, where Israelis and Palestinians each live in peace and security," he said.

He repeated his statement that "United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements" and said Palestine must end violent acts toward Israelis. Arab nations, too, have a role in achieving peace in the Middle East.

"America will align our policies with those who pursue peace," he said."We cannot impose peace."

Concerning nuclear weapons and Iran's nuclear aspirations, Obama noted the rocky history between the United States and Iran. But, he said, U.S. officials are willing to move forward "without preconditions on the basis of mutual respect."

No one nation should be able to dictate which countries have nuclear weapons and which do not, he said.

"That is why I strongly reaffirmed America's commitment to seek a world in which no nations hold nuclear weapons," he said.

He also spoke of democracy, saying "no system of government can or should be imposed upon one nation by another."

Freedom of religion, Obama said, "is central to the ability of peoples to live together" and faith should bring countries together.

Noting there was debate on women's rights, Obama said, "Our daughters can contribute just as much to society as our sons, and our common prosperity will be advanced by allowing all humanity -- men and women -- to reach their full potential."

He also touched on economic development and opportunities for exchanges between the United States and Arab countries on several levels.

"All of us share this world for but a brief moment in time," Obama said. "The question is whether we spend that time focused on what pushes us apart, or whether we commit ourselves to an effort ... to find common ground, to focus on the future we seek for our children, and to respect the dignity of all human beings."

Judge tosses telecom wiretap suits

SAN FRANCISCO, June 4 (UPI) -- A federal judge tossed out more than three dozen lawsuits claiming major U.S. telecom companies illegally participated in warrantless wiretapping programs.

Chief Judge Vaughn R. Walker of the U.S. District Court in Northern California said that while consumer and privacy advocacy groups raised important constitutional issues in their claims, Congress was clear about its "unequivocal intention" when it passed a bill last year that gave immunity to phone carriers in the wiretapping program, The New York Times reported Thursday.

The warrantless wiretapping program was approved by President George W. Bush after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. Officials from both the Bush and the Obama administrations said cooperation of the phone companies has been vital to national security and that penalizing them would jeopardize surveillance operations.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs said they would appeal to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Walker's decision lets the government be the judge of its own actions, and that's a pretty dangerous precedent," said Bruce Afran, a New Jersey lawyer representing a group of phone users.

In his ruling, Walker said the legal protection Congress allowed for the telecommunications companies was unusual in immunity law, the Times said.

"It creates a retroactive immunity for past, completed acts committed by private parties acting in concert with government entities that allegedly violated constitutional rights," he wrote.

Cindy Cohn, legal director for plaintiff Electronic Frontier Foundation, said a "silver lining" was that Walker kept intact claims against the government over the wiretapping program and a suit by an Oregon charity claiming it has evidence it was a target warrantless wiretapping.

Holbrooke touts U.S. aid to Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 4 (UPI) -- The United States has given more than half of all the aid Pakistan has received to help its displaced persons in the northwest, envoy Richard Holbrooke said.

Speaking at a news conference in Islamabad along with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, the U.S. special envoy to the region said the Obama administration has asked Congress for an additional $200 million for the more than 2 million refugees displaced by the fighting between the Pakistani military and Taliban militants in the Swat Valley region, the BBC reported.

"The United States will now have given well over half of all the assistance that your country has received from the world in regard to the refugee crisis. I must say in all frankness I think other countries can and should do more," Holbrooke was quoted as saying.

He dismissed as ludicrous accusations in a taped message purportedly by al-Qaida leader Osama Bin Laden that U.S. pressure forced the military offensive in Swat Valley which forced the people to flee, the report said.

Holbrooke said he hoped Pakistanis would appreciate the help the United States has given.

Zardari was quoted as saying his government was defending Pakistan against a serious threat.

Indonesia offers hope to Obama

JAKARTA, June 4 (UPI) -- Indonesia, the largest Islamic nation, may be a key to help U.S. President Barack Obama's reach his goal of a new start with the Muslim world, analysts say.

Success for Obama, who spoke to the Muslim world Thursday while visiting Egypt, would be measured by how he earns the trust of the Muslims, CNN reported.

Afifa Loutfie, a 23-year-old college student in Jakarta, told CNN that President Obama, on whom she wrote a college paper, could win that trust.

"I just think that he needs to say that he really tries hard to rebuild this trust and that Muslim countries should at least trust him more than the previous presidents ... he can make this happen because at least there is one person at the head of this country that is willing to do that unlike the previous presidents," Loutfie said.

She said the time Obama spent in Indonesia as a child would assure her peers that he knows more about life outside the developed world.

Political analyst Dewi Fortuna told CNN the United States can also look to Indonesia, the world's third largest democracy, for tackling terrorism as that country has faced a number of terrorist attacks as well fighting its own domestic terror groups.

"The Indonesian government has taken a rather controversial approach but it seems to work in trying to engage with the terrorists and with their families. Put them back in school, get them jobs," Fortuna said.

Other analysts said Indonesia is one of a few countries where there is no clash between Islam and democracy. They said people there would be willing give Obama a chance to make genuine progress.

Captive Israeli soldier's kin meet envoy

JERUSALEM, June 4 (UPI) -- The parents of captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, held in Gaza for three years, met with the newly appointed negotiator in Jerusalem, officials said.

After the meeting Wednesday night with the former Mossad agent Hagai Hadas, Shalit's parents Noam and Aviva told reporters," the first meeting that lasted one hour does not bring us hope."

The couple refused to divulge further details of the meeting with Hadas, who was appointed by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu earlier to negotiate the kidnapped soldier's release.

A source close to the Shalit family told the Maáriv daily newspaper that Hadas gave the impression of being very thorough and serious in his approach. "He is currently reviewing all the details compiled by former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the former envoy Ofer Dekel. We are talking about a man with a large heart, but we know, and Gilad's parents know, that the real address is Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu."

The Shalits are due to meet in the coming days with Meir Dagan, head of the Mossad intelligence agency and Yuval Diskin head of Israel's Security Services.

Israel Radio quoted Palestinian officials Thursday saying negotiations with Hamas officials to secure Shalit's release, have begun.

In June 2006, Gilad on operational duty along the Gaza Strip border, was abducted by Hamas terrorists and forcibly taken to Gaza, where he has been held captive.