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Obama: Military power 'cannot end extremism alone' Barack Obama says US 'at war with those perverting Islam'
(about 3 hours later)
US President Barack Obama has said the fight against violent extremism cannot be won by military power alone. US President Barack Obama says the US is "not at war with Islam - we are at war with the people who have perverted Islam".
In an editorial for the Los Angeles Times, Mr Obama said the world must "confront... the propagandists, recruiters and enablers". He was speaking to representatives from 60 nations attending a three-day event on extremism that follows attacks in Denmark and France.
He is due to speak to representatives of dozen of countries at White House event on extremism. Mr Obama said the world had to confront the ideologies that radicalise people.
The event, originally planned for last year, is focused on local responses to prevent radicalisation. He said that those fighting for groups like Islamic State were not religious leaders but terrorists.
UK Home Secretary Theresa May is among those expected to attend. Mr Obama said associating Islamic State or al-Qaeda with Islam would be buying into the propaganda of those groups, challenging critics who have questioned him for not describing recent attacks as the work of "Islamic radicals".
Mr Obama has asked Congress to formally authorise military force against the Islamic State (IS) military group in Iraq and Syria. The US and partners have carried out air strikes against the group since last year. Mr Obama has asked Congress formally to authorise military force against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The US and its partners have carried out air strikes against the group since last year.
The US is also concerned about growing extremist involvement in Libya and West Africa, as well as Americans and Europeans who have joined IS. But the fight against violent extremism could not be won by military power alone, he said.
The event also comes after the killing of 17 people in Paris by attackers motivated by not directly in contact with IS. Communities, Mr Obama said, must do their part. "These terrorists are a threat first and foremost to the communities they target," he said.
In the editorial, Mr Obama said groups like al-Qaeda and [IS] "exploit the anger that festers when people feel that injustice and corruption leave them with no chance of improving their lives." UK Home Secretary Theresa May and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo are among those attending the conference in Washington.
"The world has to offer today's youth something better," he said, adding "governments that deny human rights play into the hands of extremists". The US and its allies are also concerned about growing extremist involvement in Libya and West Africa, as well as Americans and Europeans who have joined IS.
And Mr Obama referenced the recent murders of three Muslim students in North Carolina in the editorial. Mr Obama also wrote an editorial published by the Los Angeles Times. In the piece he said groups like al-Qaeda and [IS] "exploit the anger that festers when people feel that injustice and corruption leave them with no chance of improving their lives".
"The world has to offer today's youth something better," he wrote, adding "governments that deny human rights play into the hands of extremists".
And in both his speech and the editorial, Mr Obama referenced the recent murders of three Muslim students in North Carolina.
"We do not yet know why three young people, who were Muslim Americans, were brutally killed in Chapel Hill, NC.""We do not yet know why three young people, who were Muslim Americans, were brutally killed in Chapel Hill, NC."
"But we know that many Muslim Americans across our country are worried and afraid.""But we know that many Muslim Americans across our country are worried and afraid."