Ban urges Russia, US to unite on terrorism

US President Barack Obama says the United States and its allies would not relent in the fight to combat Islamic State extremists.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon

ISIS needs to be defeated "in the name of humanity" the UN's Ban Ki-moon has said at ASEAN. (AAP)

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Russia and the United States to co-operate in rooting out terrorism and said he would unveil a comprehensive plan to fight extremism and violence early next year.

"All these terrorists and ideology extremists should be defeated in the name of humanity," he said at the annual East Asia Summit, this year hosted by Malaysia.

"In that regard, we need to unite. We need to show global solidarity to address ... the common enemy of ISIL, Daesh, some other extremists and terrorist groups," he said, referring to Islamic State.

US President Barack Obama said at the same summit the United States and its allies would not relent in the fight to combat Islamic State extremists and would hunt down their leaders and cut off the group's financing.

"Destroying (Islamic State) is not only a realistic goal, we're going to get it done," he told a news conference after the summit.

"We will destroy them. We will take back land they are currently in, take out their financing, hunt down leadership, dismantle their networks, supply lines and we will destroy them."

Obama said it "would be helpful" if Russia directed its focus on tackling Islamic State and he hoped Moscow would agree to a leadership transition in Syria that meant its president stepping down.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said countries with large populations of Muslims, including Russia, should unite to fight against 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.

He said "it is now clear we can only fight this threat by bringing our forces together and by working through such international institutions as the United Nations".

Ban said he "highly commended the leadership of the Russian Federation together with the United States to address some of the roots causes of terrorism".

The United Nations is now gathering ideas and experience from its member states. "Early next year, the UN is going to present a comprehensive plan of action to defeat violence and extremism."


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world