U.S. President Barack Obama said Muslim-Americans have made great contributions to the "strength and character" of the United States, as he welcomed guests to the White House for an Iftar dinner celebrating Ramadan, the Muslim holy month

President Barack Obama is preparing a fresh outreach to the Muslim world in coming days, senior U.S. officials say, one that will ask those in the Middle East and beyond to reject Islamic militancy in the wake of Osama bin Laden's death and embrace a new era of relations with the U.S.

President Barack Obama met with activist-actor George Clooney at the White House on Tuesday to discuss U.S. involvement in Sudan ahead of a critical election early next year in Africa's largest nation.

Some people find it shocking that nearly 20 percent of Americans now believe that President Obama is Muslim. Where are 60 million people getting this crazy idea? they wonder. Well, where aren’t they getting it?

One in five Americans believes Barack Obama is secretly a Muslim and nearly half question his claim to be a Christian, according to a new opinion poll.

Confidence in President Obama among the world's Muslims is slipping, according to a poll of global attitudes that also found widespread concern that the United States remains a go-it-alone nation even under the new administration.

Muslims around the world less approving of Obama:
A poll of global attitudes finds support strong in most nations, but approval has dipped in Muslim countries, due in part to Obama's handling of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Detractors also take a dim view of U.S. international decisions.

Obama sets new approach toward Muslim world: Less talk of terrorism, 'Islamic radicalism'
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Less talk about "Islamic radicalism" and a lot more about doing business. In the year since President Barack Obama pledged a new beginning in the relationship with the Muslim world, the White House has begun to change the U.S. focus.

Terrorism still dominates U.S. security concerns, but the White House believes it doesn't have to dominate the conversation. Since Obama's speech in Cairo last year, the White House has tried to talk more about health care, science and education.

It's a strategy based on the belief that the prior administration viewed the world through the lens of terrorism. And when it talked to Muslim nations, it was all about winning the war of ideas.

For most, Obama’s “Pakistan Connections” were limited to (a) his rather strong words about Pakistan, including about sending troops into Pakistan, and (b) his choice of Senator Joeseph Biden, who has a long and deep interest in foreign affairs, including Pakistan. Most Pakistanis are not very fond of the first of these connections. The second connection they like, especially because Senator Biden has been the key architect of a new, very generous and quite sensible support package for Pakistan.

It turns out, however, that Barack Obama may have slightly deeper and more personal connections to Pakistan. But, frankly, only very slightly deeper and only very slightly personal.

First, there is the story circulating around that Barak Obama’s mother lived in Pakistan for five years.

Second, Barack Obama has himself visited Pakistan. Indeed, Barack Obama may have visited Pakistan for longer than any U.S. President or presidential candidate ever has. As so many college students do, he seemed eager to see the world. He was in Karachi in 1981 as a young student, returning from a visit to his mother in Indonesia.

Finally, as mentioned in the excerpt above, Obama had a number of Pakistani friends during his college days, and it was that friendship that brought him to Pakistan. In fact, his roommate during freshman year was Imad Husain, a Pakistani. As a freshman, he also quickly became friends with Mohammed Hasan Chandoo and Wahid Hamid, two wealthy Pakistanis.

In 1981,

Allegations that Sen. Barack Obama was educated in a radical Muslim school known as a "madrassa" are not accurate, according to CNN reporting.