The US President has begun a visit to Germany, where he will hold talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel and also visit the Nazi concentration camp in Buchenwald. He will then go to a hospital to meet US troops injured in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Obama flew to Germany from Egypt, where he had made a highly anticipated speech in which he said the "cycle of suspicion and discord" between the United States and the Muslim world must end. The speech was generally well received in the Middle East and given a cautious welcome by the Israeli government which said in a statement "The government of Israel expresses its hope that President Obama's important speech will indeed lead to a new era of reconciliation between the Arab and Muslim world and Israel. We share the hope of President Obama that the American effort will signal a new era that will bring an end to the conflict and a pan-Arab recognition of Israel as the Jewish state living in security and peace in the Middle East."
