US:BARACK OBAMA's campaign has apologised to two Muslim women who were told they could not sit directly behind the candidate at a rally in Detroit this week because they were wearing headscarves.
Hebba Aref and Shimaa Abdelfadeel were among 20,000 supporters who gathered to see Mr Obama on Monday at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena when the people they were with were separately invited by Mr Obama campaign workers to sit behind the podium.
Ms Aref said campaign workers told members of both parties that women wearing hijabs, the traditional Muslim head scarf, were not included in the invitation because of "a sensitive political climate".
Campaign spokesman Bill Burton yesterday apologised to the two women, saying that the decision to exclude them was against the policy of the campaign.
"It is offensive and counter to Mr Obama's commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run. We sincerely apologise for this behaviour," he said.
Ms Aref said she would like to receive a personal apology from Mr Obama and an invitation to sit behind him on the podium at another event.
"He needs to take the matter seriously and send a strong message against any kind of discrimination," she said.
Mr Obama, who is a Christian, has faced persistent rumours that he is Muslim and that he was educated at an Islamic religious school.
Ms Aref said that she had defended Mr Obama against the rumours about his faith but she added that she felt uncomfortable listening to his message of unity in Detroit.
Mr Obama yesterday held the first meeting of a newly formed senior working group on national security, a high-level group of former members of Congress and high-ranking Clinton administration officials.
The group, which includes former secretaries of state Madeleine Albright and Warren Christopher and former defence secretary William Perry will advise Mr Obama on foreign policy during the campaign.
"It's time to change course. It's time to end the war in Iraq responsibly, refocus on Afghanistan and al-Qaeda and renew our global leadership so that we can tackle the huge challenges of the 21st century," Mr Obama said.
New polls yesterday showed Mr Obama gaining ground on Republican John McCain in key battleground states, with the Democrat now ahead in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The Quinnipiac polls show Mr Obama ahead by four points in Florida, by six in Ohio and by 12 in Pennsylvania.
Mr McCain risks further alienating Florida voters by his embrace of offshore drilling for oil, which is currently banned and has long been unpopular in Florida and California, the states most likely to be affected by a change in policy.
President George Bush yesterday backed Mr McCain's call for offshore drilling, calling on congress to overturn a federal ban imposed under his father's administration.
"Congress must face a hard reality: unless members are willing to accept gas prices at today's painful levels - or even higher - our nation must produce more oil," Mr Bush said.
Mr Bush also asked Congress to allow oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) a 19 million acre preserve created almost 30 years ago.
"Scientists have developed innovative techniques to reach ANWR's oil with virtually no impact on the land or local wildlife," Mr Bush said.
"I urge members of Congress to allow this remote region to bring enormous benefits to the American people."
Democrats in Congress immediately rejected Mr Bush's proposals and senate majority leader Harry Reid dismissed as cynical the embrace of offshore drilling by the president and Mr McCain.
"Despite what Mr Bush, John McCain and their friends in the oil industry claim, we cannot drill our way out of this problem," Mr Reid said.
"The math is simple: America has just 3 per cent of the world's oil reserves, but Americans use a quarter of its oil."