Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte insisted Friday he had not meant to insult USA leader Barack Obama, but immediately took aim at another global figure by labelling United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon a “fool”. “I never confronted Obama-I don’t know him-before taking off from Davao”, said the President.
Advertisement
Speaking in Laos at the end of the second of two Asian summits, Obama said the tycoon’s lack of leadership credentials was exposed whenever he spoke and American voters were aware of that.
“I continue to believe that Guantanamo is a recruitment tool for terrorist organizations, that it clouds and sours some of the counter-terrorism cooperation we need to engage in”, Obama said.
President Barack Obama on Thursday urged the American people to challenge what he called “contradictory or uninformed or outright wacky ideas” from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.
Asked for his views on the diplomatic furore – which at one point saw Mr Obama cancel a meeting with Mr Duterte after the Filipino leader referred to him as a “son of a whore” – Pacquiao’s position was clear. Obama said shortly afterward that he did plan to discuss his concerns about Duterte’s record on human rights, a subject he nearly always broaches with other world leaders.
A migraine has prevented Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte from attending any of the day’s ASEAN meetings, official sources reported.
Duterte was elected to office in a landslide this year after pledging to kill 100,000 people in an unprecedented war on crime.
Obama was voted in as President of the United States in 2008 and re-elected in 2012.
Obama and Duterte shook hands and briefly chatted at a holding room Wednesday night before a gala dinner.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, at the close of the summit, Mr. Duterte said: “In the last two days of our meetings, I have benefited immensely from our discussions and exchanges, providing me with insights on how best to build upon Lao PDR’s efforts in community building”. The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila said the president provided an explanation of how human rights records should be assessed in the context of the historical record.
