"In regards to the recent violence of
Islamic extremists, and all campaigning aside; President Obama took a stand,
and brought justice to our rights as Americans; defense of our Freedom of
Speech & Press. Apologizing was beyond the real issue."
~N. Moore~
US President Barack Obama has urged
global leaders to rally against extremism in an address to the UN General
Assembly in New York.
Mr Obama said
it was the obligation of all leaders to speak out forcefully against
violence and extremism, as he framed his speech with references to the US
ambassador murdered in Libya.
Unrest across the Middle East is set to dominate discussion at the
summit.
Mr Obama also again stressed the US would not allow Iran nuclear weapons.
He said the US would "do what we must" to stop Tehran acquiring nuclear arms.
Six weeks before the US election, the president said a nuclear-armed Iran was
"not a challenge that can be contained".
'Marginalise
hatred'
Iran's nuclear programme and the 18-month conflict in Syria have featured
strongly in Tuesday's speeches at the Assembly, as have the recent protests
across the Muslim world in response to a US-made video mocking the Prophet
Muhammad.
The US president condemned the violence that erupted
over the "disgusting" anti-Islam video as "an attack on UN ideals".
Referring to the US envoy who was killed in Benghazi on 11 September during
protests sparked by the video, Mr Obama challenged the UN to affirm that "our
future will be determined by people like Christopher Stevens, and not by his
killers".
"It is time to marginalise those who - even when not resorting to violence -
use hatred of America, or the West, or Israel as a central principle of
politics," said Mr Obama.
The brand of politics that pits East against West, South against North,
Muslim against Christian, Hindu and Jew, could not deliver the promise of
freedom, he added.
"That brand of politics only makes it harder to achieve what we must do
together: educating our children and creating the opportunities they deserve;
protecting human rights and extending democracy's promise.
"Today, we must declare that this violence and intolerance has no place among
our United Nations."
'Regional calamity'
Syria's conflict is not formally on the General Assembly's agenda but was a
focal point of discussion on the opening day.
Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said the
UN Security Council's failure to end the conflict meant it would be better for
Arab countries to intervene in Syria - citing the work of the Arab
League-established force that intervened in Lebanon in the 1970s.
Opening the meeting on Tuesday, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon described
the fighting in Syria as "a regional calamity with global ramifications".
He called for action from the divided UN Security Council and said "the
international community should not look the other way as violence spirals out of
control".
"Brutal human rights abuses continue to be committed, mainly by the
government but also by opposition forces," he added.
People did not look to the UN to be simply a mirror reflecting back a divided
world, said Mr Ban. Rather, they wanted to see it come up with solutions to
problems.
The US president was blunter in his assessment of Syria, saying Bashar
Assad's regime must end.
The UN Security Council has been unable to reach agreement on the Syria
crisis and on Monday UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned that the situation was
"extremely bad and getting worse".
While he did not have a full plan, he said he had "a few ideas". Mr Brahimi
has just visited Damascus as well as refugee camps in neighbouring Jordan and
Turkey.
The BBC's Barbara Plett says that diplomats have played down expectations for
Mr Brahimi's mission, with no sign of fundamental divisions on the council being
bridged.
Mr Hollande, in his first appearance at the assembly, is also expected to
call for backing for an international force to be sent to the West African state
of Mali to help dislodge Islamist militants who have taken over the north of the
country.
Fake regime
Although the White House said Mr Obama's address was not a campaign speech,
it follows critical remarks about his foreign policy from Republican
presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
His presidential rival condemned Mr Obama's description of the murder of Mr
Stevens and three other Americans as "bumps in the road". He has also castigated
him for not taking time out to hold talks on Iran during the summit with Israeli
PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
Mr Obama has rejected the Israeli leader's calls for Washington to set Tehran
"red lines".
Instead, he said the United States would "do what we must to prevent Iran
from obtaining a nuclear weapon" with the backing of "a coalition of countries"
holding Tehran accountable.
Mr Netanyahu has recently appeared on US television to press for a tougher
line on Iran, and he will take the same message to the General Assembly on
Thursday.
Tehran says its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
On the eve of the assembly, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told a UN
meeting that Israel was a "fake regime", prompting Israel's UN ambassador, Ron
Prosor, to walk out.
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