Barack Obama last night wasted no time in stamping his mark on Washington by sweeping away old practices and laying down new ethical rules for White House staff on his first day in office.

The new president said the planned changes went a long way to marking a "new era of openness" in the governance of America. He wanted to make the White House the "people's house".

After announcing early yesterday that the military trials at Guantanamo Bay detention camp were to be suspended as an expected prelude to closure, Mr Obama's whirlwind start included announcements to: freeze pay for senior staff in his administration; slap curbs on former lobbyists who work in government and give greater public access to official documents.

"Transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this administration," he declared.

In a sign of his determination to get to grips with the Middle East crisis, the President's first international telephone calls were to the region's leaders, pledging commitment to working for a peace plan.

He spoke to Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, Hosni Mubarak, the President of Egypt and Jordan's King Abdullah.

"President Obama used the opportunity on his first day in office to communicate his commitment to active engagement in pursuit of Arab-Israeli peace from the beginning of his term and express his hope for their continued co-operation and leadership," said the White House.

It is expected that former senator George Mitchell, who helped broker the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, will soon be announced as the President's special envoy to the Middle East. It is also believed Mr Obama will shortly sign an order to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp within one year and start an immediate review of how to deal with the remaining 200 or so prisoners.

A draft order is said to call for a review on the status of the remaining detainees and the military commissions set up to try them. It will also investigate transferring prisoners to facilities in the US. Earlier this month, Lord Goldsmith, the former Attorney General, said Britain should take some Guantanamo Bay inmates if it helped America close the Cuban prison.

Late last night, Mr Obama was due to hold meetings with his advisers to discuss the economic crisis and his £500bn stimulus package as well as the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Announcing the pay freeze for about 100 White House staff, who earn more than £80,000 a year, the President explained: "During this period of economic emergency, families are tightening their belts and so should Washington."

The 44th President, who made government ethics reform and transparency central themes of his election campaign, said that he was making a "clean break from business as usual" and spelling out new rules for ex-lobbyists who became government officials. He said he had set an order that would prohibit people who worked in the private sector as lobbyists from working in government on matters they had previously lobbied.

He also put in place a ban on gifts from lobbyists and promised much greater access for the public to government documents that are sensitive because of national security or privacy issues.

Another key member of the administration was confirmed last night as Hillary Clinton, was backed by the Senate as secretary of state in a 94-2 vote. She replaces former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

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