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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Confront Mideast turmoil, Obama tells world leaders
Olivier Douliery / MCT Barack Obama: defends free speech (TRIBUNE MEDIA MCT)
U.S. President Barack Obama challenged the international community Tuesday to confront the causes of turmoil in the Middle East, saying the attacks on U.S. citizens in Libya "were attacks on America" and the world faces "a choice between the forces that would drive us apart and the hopes we hold in common."
Obama's speech to an annual gathering of world leaders at the UN General Assembly was his last before the November election, and campaign politics shadowed his words as he also spoke forcefully on Iran's nuclear program, the violence in Syria, the peace prospects between Israelis and Palestinians and the tensions that can come with freedom of speech.
"I do believe that it is the obligation of all leaders, in all countries, to speak out forcefully against violence and extremism," Obama said.
The president condemned the amateur anti-Muslim video made in the U.S. that helped spark the recent protests that killed dozens of people, including the U.S. ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens, calling it "cruel and disgusting."
"There is no speech that justifies mindless violence," Obama said.
But he strongly defended the U.S. Constitution's guarantee of the freedom of expression, "even views that we profoundly disagree with."
The foreign minister of Indonesia, the nation with world's largest Muslim population, said Obama's speech was a "clarion call" for all nations to shun intolerance, and he expected Muslim nations to react positively. .
"There will be a lot of sympathy. It is an issue that galvanizes all of us," Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told The Associated Press. But he added freedom of expression should be exercised with consideration to morality and public order.
Obama also warned the time to peacefully curb the Iranian nuclear crisis is running out. Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful, but fears that it is pursuing nuclear weapons have led Israel to threaten an attack.
Obama said there is "still time and space" to resolve the issue through diplomacy, but he said that time is not unlimited.
"Make no mistake: A nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained. It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf nations and the unravelling of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty," he said.
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has accused Obama of not being tough enough on Iran and of turning his back on Israel and other allies in the Middle East. Romney also has said he doesn't have much faith in peace prospects between Israelis and Palestinians.
Obama told the UN: "Among Israelis and Palestinians, the future must not belong to those who turn their backs on the prospect of peace."
Romney in separate remarks Tuesday to a global forum sponsored by former U.S. president Bill Clinton, said the attack at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that took the life of the U.S. ambassador and three other U.S. citizens was "a terrorist attack."
-- The Associated Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 26, 2012 A9
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