British Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged on Wednesday to strengthen the "special relationship " with the United States under the new US President Barack Obama 's administration.

"I can assure the whole House we will maintain and strengthen our special relationship between our two countries," Brown told lawmakers at his Prime Minister's Question time in the House of Commons.

"The importance that President Obama places on urgent action on the economic recovery, on environmental stewardship and on the fact that citizenship carries with it responsibilities as well as rights will have a resonance in every part of the world," he said, just one day after Obama's presidential inauguration.

On Tuesday, Brown on Tuesday hailed Obama on his inauguration as the new US president, saying it was a "new chapter in both American history and the world's history."

"The whole world is watching the inauguration of President Obama, witnessing a new chapter in both American history and the world's history. He is not only the first black American president but he sets out with the determination to solve the world's problems," said Brown.

Brown praised Obama as a man of "great vision", "great determination and energy," and "great moral purpose".

Brown said that Obama understood that the world faced " extraordinary times" and "unprecedented challenges" and had displayed "great courage" in taking forward economic proposals similar to those in Britain and other countries.

(Xinhua News Agency January 22, 2009)