Obama as seen by Al Jazeera

From Al Jazeera:

Obama pushes for Middle East peace

Merkel, right, praised Obama's Cairo speech, asthe two met for talks in Dresden [EPA]

Barack Obama, the US president, has called for a redoubling of efforts towards a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, saying he is confident progress can be made this year.

The US leader was speaking on Friday in the east German city of Dresden, a day after delivering a much-anticipated speech in Egypt in which he vowed to forge a "new beginning" for Islam and America.

"The United States can't force peace upon the parties. But what we've tried to do is clear away some of the misunderstandings," he told reporters in Dresden.

"I am confident that if we stick to it, having started early, we can make some serious progress this year."

Full Story:http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/06/20096591729913767.html