Manila, Nov 19: Asia Pacific leaders have called for more global cooperation in the struggle against terrorism, as a wave of deadly attacks claimed by the Islamic State group dominated the final day of a regional trade summit.
The annual 21-member Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) gathering — hosted this year by the Philippines – is meant to forge trade unity but often finds itself sidetracked by other events.
“We strongly condemn all acts, methods and practices of terrorism in all their forms and manifestations,” the leaders, which included Obama and Chinese president Xi Jinping, said in an end-of-summit declaration.
“We will not allow terrorism to threaten the fundamental values that underpin our free and open economies. We stress the urgent need for increased international cooperation and solidarity in the fight against terrorism,” the statement said.
Earlier Xi spoke out to condemn the murder of a Chinese hostage by the Islamic State, which also claimed to have killed a Norwegian.
The Islamic State group was also a top concern when Obama met newly-elected Canadian counterpart Justin Trudeau on the sidelines of the summit.
Trudeau, who has vowed to pull out Canada’s fighter jets from Iraq and Syria, said his country would remain “a strong member of the coalition” against IS.
Obama, meanwhile, reiterated his demand that Syria’s civil war would only end if Russia-backed Bashar al-Assad left power.
The populous and economically vibrant Asia Pacific region has largely been spared attacks by the Syria and Iraq based IS group.
But some APEC members, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, fear their nationals fighting for the group might one day return and wreak havoc at home.
The lead up to Wednesday and today’s summit talks were also dominated by sparring between Washington and Beijing over the South China Sea issue.
