4 days of inaugural events feature day of service & Obama plans major address in Islamic capital: interview

[Mrs. Sharon B. Hodge]

4 days of inaugural events feature day of service
By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press Write


CHICAGO – President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration will be a four-day affair, replete with the traditional balls but also featuring service projects to honor Martin Luther King's holiday, aides said Wednesday.

The events are expected to draw millions of visitors to Washington to witness the swearing-in of the country's first black president. The preliminary schedule also includes a national prayer service the day after Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden take office on Jan. 20.

"At this moment of great challenge and great change, renewing the promise of America begins with renewing the idea that in America, we rise or fall as one nation and one people," Obama said in a statement released by the Presidential Inaugural Committee. "That sense of unity and shared purpose is what this inauguration will reflect."

The event's theme — "Renewing America's Promise" — is the same one used for the Democratic National Convention in Denver and for the party's national platform. It's a nod to the optimism that Obama tapped into during a marathon campaign.

The schedule plans an event on Sunday, Jan. 18, to welcome visitors to the nation's capital. During George W. Bush's first inaugural celebration in 2001, a welcoming event took place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and featured popular musicians such as Ricky Martin, who prodded the then-Texas governor to join him for a dance.

The schedule plans for Obama and Biden to perform a service project the next day, the national King holiday. Aides are not detailing what they will do, but said Obama and Biden would urge others across the country to follow their lead to honor the civil rights leader and activist.

Inauguration Day will feature many of the events of past schedules, including the oath of office on the western steps of the Capitol, the parade to the White House and the traditional inaugural balls. Some have speculated that those would be pared back as the country faces an economic crisis, but aides said they would remain.

Not all events will be exclusive affairs for tuxedoed insiders. Obama's campaign wants the inauguration to be inclusive and open to the public, including opening the entire

National Mall for the millions anticipated to flood Washington for his swearing-in.

Aides declined to release the slate of balls Wednesday, saying the details had not been completed.


Obama plans major address in Islamic capital: interview

WASHINGTON, (AFP) – President-elect Barack Obama plans to give "a major address" in an Islamic capital soon after taking office as he seeks to mend America's image in the Muslim world, a Chicago Tribune interview said.

"I think we've got a unique opportunity to reboot America's image around the world and also in the Muslim world in particular," Obama said in the interview published late Tuesday on the Tribune's website.

Obama promised an "unrelenting" desire to "create a relationship of mutual respect and partnership in countries and with peoples of good will who want their citizens and ours to prosper together."

The world "is ready for that message."

While he described a fresh approach to diplomacy, Obama said his administration would not shrink from the struggle against terrorism, referring to the recent attacks on India's financial capital.

"The message I want to send is that we will be unyielding in stamping out the terrorist extremism we saw in Mumbai," said Obama, who gave the interview from his transition team's offices in Chicago.

The Tribune wrote that Obama "plans to give a major address in an Islamic capital as part of his global outreach" but did not quote him directly.

Obama also said he would be sworn on January 20 using his full name, Barack Hussein Obama.

During the presidential campaign, some of Obama's political opponents would refer to his middle name in an attempt to portray him as a secret Muslim.

But the Christian president-elect said he would follow tradition for the inauguration ceremony.

"I think the tradition is that they use all three names, and I will follow the tradition,"

Obama told the paper. "I'm not trying to make a statement one way or another. I'll do what everybody else does."