Assaults in Libya ‘were attacks on America’

US president Barack Obama told world leaders yesterday that attacks on US citizens in Libya “were attacks on America,” and called on them to join in confronting the root causes of the rage across the Muslim world.

“I do believe that it is the obligation of all leaders, in all countries, to speak out forcefully against violence and extremism,” Obama told the annual gathering of the UN General Assembly.

He also condemned the anti-Muslim video that helped spark the attacks, calling it “disgusting”.

But he defended the US Constitution’s protection of the freedom of expression, “even views that we profoundly disagree with”.

With presidential election politics shadowing every word, Obama also warned that time to peacefully curb the Iranian nuclear crisis is running out. He said there is “still time and space” to resolve the issue through diplomacy.

“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 does not 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 remarks to a global conference sponsored by former president Bill Clinton, said the attack at the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, that took the life of the US ambassador and three other US citizens, was an act of terrorism.

Obama mentioned the slain US ambassador, Christopher Stevens, several times. “Today, we must declare that our future will be determined by people like Chris Stevens and not by his killers,” he said. “Today, we must declare that this violence and intolerance has no place among our united nations.”

Unlike Romney, Obama has not specifically called the attacks in Libya and other US missions terrorism.

Obama said “at a time when anyone with a cellphone can spread offensive views around the world with the click of a button”, the notion that governments can control the flow of information is obsolete.

“There is no speech that justifies mindless violence,” such as the attack that left the four Americans dead in Libya, he said. “The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech — the voices of tolerance that rally against bigotry and blasphemy.”