Today in Photos

Quoting from the Quran for emphasis, President Barack Obama called for "a new beginning between the United States and Muslims" Thursday. Today's photos feature people in the Middle East watching the Obama's landmark speech.

Section:Gallery

Thu., June 4, 2009

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses an audience at the Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt Thursday, June 4, 2009. Speaking in the ancient seat of Islamic learning and culture, and quoting from the Quran for emphasis, President Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims", and said together, they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East. "This cycle of suspicion and discord must end," Obama said in the widely anticipated speech in one of the world's largest Muslim countries, an address designed to reframe relations after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Ben Curtis Associated Press
Members of the audience listen to the speech by U.S. President Barack Obama, delivered at Cairo University, Thursday, June 4, 2009 in Cairo, Egypt.

Pablo Monsivais Associated Press
Young guests look out from the upper level over the balcony at the scene in the hall, prior to the speech of U.S. President Barack Obama at Cairo University in Cairo, Thursday, June 4, 2009. President Obama is due to deliver the speech that he's been promising since last year's election campaign - aiming to set a new tone in America's often-strained dealings with the world's 1.5 billion Muslims.

Ben Curtis Associated Press
Afghans listen to a live broadcast of a speech by U.S. President Barack Obama in Khost province south of Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, June 4, 2009.

Nishanuddin Khan Associated Press
A Palestinan barber trims a customer's beard as President Barack Obama's speech is seen on television at a shop in Jerusalem's Old city Thursday, June 4, 2009. Obama called for a new beginning between the United States and Muslims, during his speech delivered at Cairo University in Egypt on Thursday, which is broadcast live on the internet and TV stations.

Sebastian Scheiner Associated Press
Muslim Americans, from left: Hasnain Syed, 30, Fatima Zahra Billoo, 24, Monira Mansoory, 17, Amira Mohtheshum, 17, and Zabie Mansoory, 23, watch live televised coverage of President Barack Obama's speech from Cairo University, in the Sylmar area of Los Angeles, early Thursday June 4, 2009.

Gus Ruelas Associated Press
Women watch the speech of U.S. President Barack Obama as they stand in a spice shop in the shouthern port city of Sidon, Lebanon, Thursday, June 4, 2009. Obama called for a new beginning between the United States and Muslims, during his speech delivered at Cairo University, Egypt, on Thursday, which is broadcast live on the internet and TV stations.

Mohammed Zaatari Associated Press
Palestinian Mohammed Khader, 47, his wife Soad, center, and their children watch President Barack Obama's speech on television in their tent set up for people who had lost their homes in Israel's incursion into Gaza in January, at the devastated area east of Jebaliya in the northern of Gaza Strip, in Gaza City, Thursday, June 4, 2009. Quoting from the Quran for emphasis, President Barack Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims" Thursday and said together, they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East.

Adel Hana Associated Press
Palestinian Hamas militants wear masks to conceal their identities from the camera as they watch the televised speech of US President Barack Obama as they pose with their weapons in front of journalists at at training base in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, Thursday, June 4, 2009. Quoting from the Quran for emphasis, President Barack Obama called for a "new beginning between the United States and Muslims" Thursday and said together, they could confront violent extremism across the globe and advance the timeless search for peace in the Middle East.

Eyad Baba Associated Press
A Syrian barber, reflected in a mirror, listens to the speech of U.S. President Barack Obama on a TV screen in his shop in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, June 4, 2009. Muslims greeted President's Barack Obama's speech from Cairo Thursday as a mark of a changed American attitude toward them and a new policy on the Middle East, but some insisted they still need to see action to back up his words.

Ola Rifai Associated Press
An ultra-Orthodox Jew watches President Barack Obama's speech on television screens at a shopping center in Jerusalem Thursday, June 4, 2009. Obama called for a new beginning between the United States and Muslims, during his speech delivered at Cairo University in Egypt on Thursday, which is broadcast live on the internet and TV stations.

Moti Milrod Associated Press