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President Obama flew to Germany from Egypt

One day after making a keynote speech in Cairo, Mr Obama said his government would seek a resumption of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

"The moment is now, to act on what both sides know to be truth," he said.

Mr Obama also plans to visit the Nazi concentration camp in Buchenwald and then visit a US Army hospital.

There he will meet troops injured on active duty in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Mr Obama flew to Germany from Egypt, where he said the "cycle of suspicion and discord" between the United States and the Muslim world must end.

'Extraordinary activity'

During private talks, the two leaders discussed a broad range of major international challenges, they said at a news conference in Dresden.

Among the key themes discussed were the Middle East, the issue of Iran's nuclear ambitions, the ongoing global economic downturn and climate change, Mrs Merkel said.

The German chancellor said she and Mr Obama had discussed a timeframe for diplomatic action in the Middle East and pledged to offer whatever help Germany could provide.

Mr Obama remained vague about the exact steps his administration would take, but said he would send his special envoy George Mitchell back to the region to meet leaders and discuss the issues raised by his Cairo speech.

In Cairo the US president called for an end to Israeli settlement construction, something the right-wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has yet to agree.

"What is different now is that you're seeing an American president engage that issue [the Middle East] almost on the very first day I took office," Mr Obama said.

He said there had already been "extraordinary activity" on the issue which would send a sign to region that the US means business, the president said.

Guantanamo issue

Other elements of the visit to Germany are more nuanced.

Mr Obama needs to convince an increasingly sceptical American public that the war in Afghanistan is worth fighting, the BBC's Steve Rosenberg in Berlin says.

So he will use his trip to Germany - and then the D-Day commemorations in France - to send a strong message back home that the fight against tyranny demands sacrifice, our correspondent says.

He says the US president has also for months been encouraging European government to shoulder more of the burden in Afghanistan and to send more combat troops to take on the Taleban.

Washington also would like to see European countries take in dozens of detainees from Guantanamo Bay, but so far there has been little enthusiasm across Europe, our correspondent adds.

Ovation in Cairo

In a keynote speech in Cairo on Thursday, Mr Obama called for a "new beginning" in US relations with the Muslim world.

He admitted there had been "years of distrust" and said both sides needed to make a "sustained effort... to respect one another and seek common ground".

Mr Obama said the US bond with Israel was unbreakable but described the Palestinians' plight as "intolerable".

The president made a number of references to the Koran and called on all faiths to live together in peace.

He received a standing ovation at the end of his speech at Cairo University.

White House officials had said the speech was intended to start a process to "re-energise the dialogue with the Muslim world".