CAIRO - US President Barack Obama Thursday vowed to forge a "new beginning" for Islam and America in a landmark speech to the world's Muslims, promising to purge years of "suspicion and discord."
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.
"So long as our relationship is defined by our differences, we will empower those who sow hatred rather than peace," said Obama, who was greeted with a standing ovation as he stepped alone up to the podium at Cairo University.
Obama drew applause as he sprinkled his text with allusion to the Koran and the Bible, and elements of his own upbringing as a boy in the world's most populous Islamic nation Indonesia with family members in Kenya followers of the Muslim faith.
In the university's imposing domed Great Hall, Obama said the US bond with Israel, the source of much Arab distrust of the United States, was unbreakable.
He also rejected "ignorant" rants by those who deny the Nazi Holocaust -- in an implied shot at Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
But breaking with his predecessor George W. Bush, he rebuked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to halt West Bank settlement expansion.
"I have come here to Cairo to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world," Obama said in a speech targeting the globe's 1.5 billion Muslims via television, the Internet and on social networking sites.
"This cycle of suspicion and discord must end," said Obama, vowing to fight "negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear."
"But that same principle must apply to Muslim perceptions of America," he added.
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."
As expected, Obama's speech got mixed reactions.
Arab League chief Amr Mussa said the speech was "balanced" and paved the way for good relations.
The leading Sunni Muslim centre of learning, Cairo's Al-Azhar University, said the speech presaged a "promising new era" in relations between the Islamic world and the United States.
And UN chief Ban Ki-moon said he hoped Obama's message would "have a positive impact on the peace process".
But Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which fought a 2006 war with Israel, said it saw "no real change" in US policy in the region.
And Iraqi Shiite radical leader Moqtada Sadr, who led two uprisings against US-led troops in 2004, said US policies "were and are still hostile to Islam".
Obama called on Israel and the Palestinians to revive stalled peace talks, demanding that Palestinians halt violence and Israel ease the plight of those in the occupied territories.
"America will not turn our backs on the legitimate Palestinian aspiration for dignity, opportunity, and a state of their own," he said.
"The United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. This construction violates previous agreements and undermines efforts to achieve peace. It is time for these settlements to stop."
Israel said it was ready to work for reconciliation with the Muslim world "while taking into consideration its national interest, first and foremost its security."
The US president renewed his offer of dialogue with arch-foe Iran "without preconditions".
"It will be hard to overcome decades of mistrust, but we will proceed with courage, rectitude and resolve," he said.
The overture to Tehran drew criticism from right-wingers in the United States and sparked some concern in Israel.
"Where he continues to say he will sit down with the Iranians without any preconditions -- I just think that that puts us in a position where America looks weak in the eyes of their rulers," said House Republican Minority Leader John Boehner.
"There was an expectation in Jerusalem that the president would repeat his previous clear expressions on the (Iran nuclear) issue," a senior Israeli official told AFP asking not to be identified.
Ahead of Obama's speech, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had fired a shot across his bows saying: "Nations in the region hate the United States from the bottom of their hearts because they have seen violence, military intervention and discrimination."