Palestinian PM hopes:

Obama speech opened new era

OSLO: Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad said Sunday he was hopeful US President Barack Obama's landmark address to the world's Muslims in Cairo had opened up a new era in relations.

"There's a great deal in that speech that gives us reason for hope," Fayyad, a US-educated economist widely respected in the West but reviled by the Hamas rulers of Gaza, said during a visit to Oslo.

"We are impressed by the sincere tone of the speech and the substance of it. It is our hope actually it will in that respect have marked a new beginning."

On Wednesday, in what may be one of the defining moments of his presidency, Obama laid out a new blueprint for US Middle East policy, pledging to end mistrust, forge a state for Palestinians and defuse a nuclear showdown with Iran.

Part of Obama's motivation appeared to be to cleanse the US image in the Muslim world, which has been tarnished by events like the Iraq war, the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.

Targeting young Muslims, Obama said: "I know there are many Muslim and non-Muslim who question whether we can forge this new beginning.

"There is so much fear, so much mistrust. But if we choose to be bound by the past, we will never move forward."

Fayyad was in Oslo for a meeting of Palestinian donors.

The Hamas rulers of the Gaza Strip, who gave a luke-warm response to Obama's speech, have never recognised Fayyad's authority, continuing instead to recognise their own prime minister, Ismail Haniya.

Monday, AFP