Mr Obama's speech aims to engage Indonesians in their embrace of democracy and the free market.

The much-anticipated visit to the Istiqlal Mosque and speech at the University of Indonesia were the last stops on Mr Obama's twice-postponed visit to Indonesia.

The trip was cut short by several hours as the US president sought to outrace a cloud of volcanic ash spewed out by Mount Merapi in Central Java, which has severely disrupted air travel across the region.

Mr Obama arrived in Indonesia on November 9 and told reporters he was ‘deeply moved’ to return to the country of his childhood.

Indonesia was the second stop on Mr Obama's Asia tour, after India, and he will travel on to the Republic of Korea for the G20 summit on November 10 and end his trip in Yokohama, Japan, for the APEC summit.

AFP