Albania: On Tirana's George W. Bush Street, a positive impression of Obama
'The Muslim world has been waiting for a long time for such thing.'
TIRANA, ALBANIA – In staunchly pro-American Albania, a European outpost of the Muslim world, few people interviewed said they watched the Cairo speech, though some TV stations here did broadcast it live.
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Sitting at his office on Tirana's George W. Bush Street – really – Mufti Shaban Saliaj admitted that he had not followed President Obama's trip closely, but he says he was nonetheless pleased that America appears to be reaching out to Muslims.
A little better informed, Elvis Naci, the imam of the Albanian capital's Mosque of the Tabaks, described Obama’s gesture as "extremely" positive.
“The Muslim world has been waiting for a long time for such thing,” Imam Naci said, adding. “If you see all the polls in the Islamic world, the US president’s visit has been warmly welcomed.”
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