In a first, Obama to visit mosque in US tomorrow

February 02, 2016 10:43

In a bid to highlight the importance of religious freedom and tolerance, US President Barack Obama, for the first time in his presidency, will visit a mosque tomorrow and interact with community leaders.

Obama's mosque visit, in the vicinity of Washington, DC, comes amid increasing backlash against the Muslim community, in particular the anti-Islam rhetoric coming from the Republican presidential candidates.

This would be the first ever visit to a mosque by Obama inside the US, although he has visited mosques overseas.

"It will be an opportunity for the president to celebrate the contributions that Muslim-Americans have made to our nation, but also reaffirm the importance that religious freedom has to our way of life," White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters.

"There obviously has been some discussion about this in the context of the political debate in the country. The president's visit I think is an important moment to acknowledge those two things," he said.

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