US won’t relent in fight vs IS – Obama

KUALA LUMPUR  —  President Barack Obama yesterday vowed that the United States and its international partners “will not relent” in the fight against the Islamic State group, insisting the world would not accept the extremists’ attacks on civilians in Paris and elsewhere as the “new normal.”

“The most powerful tool we have is to say we are not afraid,” Obama said as he wrapped up a nine-day trip to Turkey, the Philippines and Malaysia that was shadowed by terror attacks. He spoke in Malaysia shortly before departing for Washington.

Obama also pressed Russian President Vladimir Putin to align himself with the US-led coalition against the Islamic State.

The American leader noted that the Islamic State has been accused of bringing down a Russian passenger jet last month that killed 224 people, and attacked a luxury hotel in Mali that killed 19 people, including six Russians.

“He needs to go after the people who killed Russian citizens,” Obama said of Putin.

At the East Asia summit, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said countries with large populations of Muslims, including Russia, should unite to fight Islamic State.

“We need a consolidated anti-terrorist position of those countries that have a large Islamic community, and incidentally Russia is one of these countries,” Medvedev said.

French President Francois Hollande is due to meet with Obama at the White House on Tuesday to discuss ways to bolster the international coalition fighting the Islamic State. Hollande then heads to Russia for talks with Putin.

While Russia has stepped up its air campaign in Syria, Obama said Moscow has focused its attention on moderate rebels fighting Syrian President Bashar Assad, a Russian ally.

He called on Russia to make a “strategic adjustment” and drop its support for Assad, insisting the violence in Syria cannot be stopped as long as Assad is in office.

“It will not work to keep him in power,” Obama added. “We can’t stop the fighting.”

Nearly five years of fighting between the Assad government and rebels has created a vacuum that allowed the Islamic State to thrive in both Syria and Iraq. The militant group is now setting its sights on targets outside its stronghold, including the attacks in Paris.

The discussions about a military coalition to defeat the Islamic State come amid parallel talks about a diplomatic solution to end Syria’s civil war. The violence has killed more than 250,000 people and displaced millions, sparking a refugee crisis in Europe.