Barack Obama: Asean to focus on ISIS

Security tightened at meet to avert ‘terror attack’

US President Barack Obama said summit meetings among world leaders this weekend in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur will focus on the global fight against Islamic State (ISIS) militancy and on the disputed South China Sea.

Speaking to reporters after meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Obama said: “Malaysia is part of the coalition to fight (ISIS) and can be extraordinarily helpful on issues like countering the destructive and perverse narrative that’s developed.”

Malaysia deployed extraordinary security measures around Kuala Lumpur on Friday as leaders from 18 countries arrived for a pair of weekend summits amid fresh attacks by Islamist militants.

Malaysia’s police chief cited unconfirmed reports of an “imminent terrorist threat” in the country, following last week’s attacks in Paris and the downing of a Russian airliner over Egypt by ISIS militants.

Some 4,500 soldiers were deployed or on standby to secure the summit, in addition to thousands of police who have fanned out around the Kuala Lumpur City Centre. The site is home to Petronas Towers, once the world’s tallest buildings, and a convention center where the summits are taking place.

In addition to Mr Obama, leaders from China, Japan, Russia, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand are attending the East Asia Summit following the annual Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting.

Shortly after Mr Obama arrived, reports from the African nation of Mali said gunmen shouting Islamist slogans attacked a luxury hotel in the capital of Bamako, taking 170 guests and hotel staff hostage. It was not immediately clear who the gunmen were affiliated with.

Mr Obama said the United States was “monitoring the situation”.

Earlier, Mr Obama urged young people in predominantly Muslim Malaysia to reject the “terrible vision” that drove the Paris attacks, offering an alternative vision in which traditional cultures coexist with a diverse modern world.

“You can set an example,” Mr Obama told college-age youngsters in Kuala Lumpur. “Not just to stand up to violent extremism, but to build interfaith dialogue, to promote tolerance.”

At a town hall meeting, Mr Obama called on the next generation to avoid a mindset in which people divide themselves along ethnic, racial or tribal lines.