Sadr: Obama has subtle plans to control world

Iraq's senior cleric Moqtada al-Sadr says Barack Obama's speech indicates that the US wants to take a different avenue to bring the world under its control.

"The honeyed political speech expressed only one aim -- America wants to take a different avenue to bring the world under its control" compared to the former US president George W. Bush's strategies, Sadr said in a statement released to journalists in the holy city of Najaf on Thursday.

"Obama cannot change the American policies... which were and are still hostile to Islam, and that will continue," he added.

The Iraqi cleric further pointed out that he would trust the US president "only after their (the US) withdrawal from our beloved Iraq and Muslim Afghanistan and their withdrawal of support for the Israeli enemy, and I hope for this from him."

"Let him know that the resistance and the opposition will continue. We don't believe his words," he noted.

The US president pledged to forge a "new beginning" for Islam and America in his speech in Cairo, vowing to purge years of "suspicion and discord."

The American leader vowed to end mistrust, forge a state for Palestinians and defuse a nuclear showdown with the Islamic Republic.

Meanwhile, Lebanon's Hezbollah said on Thursday that US President Barack Obama's Cairo speech had signaled no real shift in US policy in the Arab world.

Bush sees parity with 'brother' Clinton

Former US President George W. Bush says ex-President William J. Clinton never criticized him as both leaders followed similar policies in their tenures.

Speaking at their first cameo appearance in a Toronto forum on Friday, Bush refused to vilify the current US administration under President Barack H. Obama, saying he disliked it when former governments attacked his.

The two leaders rubberstamped each other's policies, agreeing that little differences existed between the two.

Bush supported Clinton's silence during the 1994 Rwanda genocide in which over 800,000 thousands Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered.

He backed Clinton's notion by admitting that the quick mobilization of 20,000 troops was not feasible at the time.

Clinton, however, acknowledged that he could save around 400,000 lives in case he took the initiative.

"It's one of the two or three greatest regrets of my presidency," he said.

Clinton for his part praised Bush for his 'diverse' cabinet picks.

Tickets for "A conversation with Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton," were sold for C$200 to C$2,500 as hundreds of opposition had staged a rally outside the heavily-guarded venue.

Commenting on the financial benefits of the forum, Bush said, "President Clinton and I used to believe in free speech …So thanks very much for coming _ we are glad you're here."

He also called Clinton a 'brother' for the amount of time he spent with the Bush family.

The comments put a new light on the true differences between the two main political parties.