WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Reform Party presidential candidate Pat Buchanan Friday drew parallels between himself and the American Muslim community.

In a speech before the American Muslim Council, Buchanan told the group they have shared family values and a belief that abortion is wrong.

Islamic influence, he said, is "on the rise, and I believe the influence of your community in this country is positive, it is beneficial and it is desperately needed in an age when I see our country going in the wrong direction."

Buchanan criticized first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton for planning to attend a gay pride march Sunday in New York.

"That, in my view is no place the first lady of the United States ought to appear. I believe it is a march of decadence," he said.

Buchanan spoke on international issues as well, calling for a more "moral" international policy. He said if he were president he would lift the embargo on humanitarian, civil and medical goods on Iraq.

"I think that policy of imposing ruthless sanctions on the primary victims which are the old, the poor and the very young is an immoral policy and it shames us as a great nation and a great people," Buchanan said.

On the Middle East, Buchanan said he believes there should be two capitals in the city of Jerusalem and said he believes it would be a mistake to move the American embassy into Jerusalem from Tel Aviv as some have suggested.

taken from www.cnn.com