In Indonesia, Obama reaches out to Muslims

Israel defends construction plans in East Jerusalem. A4

Beaming with pride, Obama delivered perhaps the most intensely personal speech of his presidency, speaking phrases in Indonesian to a cheering crowd of young people who claimed him as their own.

“Let me begin with a simple statement: Indonesia is part of me,’’ he said in Indonesian during a morning speech at the University of Indonesia.

He praised the world’s most populous Muslim nation for standing its ground against “violent extremism’’ and said: “All of us must defeat Al Qaeda and its affiliates, who have no claim to be leaders of any religion. . . . This is not a task for America alone.’’

Seeking to cement relations with fast-growing Asian trading partners, Obama also paid tribute to the economic dynamism of the region at a time of global financial stress.

“America has a stake in Indonesia that is growing, with prosperity that is broadly shared among the Indonesian people — because a rising middle class here means new markets for our goods, just as America is a market for yours,’’ he said.

The speech was made ahead of a meeting of the Group of 20 major economic powers that begins this evening in Seoul, a session expected to be marked by trade tensions between the United States and major exporting nations such as China and Germany.

Earlier today in Jakarta, Obama visited the Istiqlal Mosque, the largest in Southeast Asia — one that Obama noted was under construction when he lived here as a boy from 1967 to 1971.

“Because Indonesia is made up of thousands of islands, hundreds of languages, and people from scores of regions and ethnic groups, my times here helped me appreciate the humanity of all people,’’ Obama said.