Barack Obama: US 'at war with those perverting Islam'

President Barack Obama says the US is not at war with Islam but rather people who have perverted Islam.

He was speaking to representatives from 60 nations attending a three-day forum on extremism that follows attacks in Denmark and France.

Mr Obama said the world has to confront the ideologies that radicalise people.

He said those heading groups like Islamic state and al-Qaeda are not religious leaders but terrorists.

Mr Obama said associating Islamic state or al-Qaeda with Islam will be buying into the propaganda of those groups, challenging critics who have questioned him for not describing recent attacks as the work of Islamic radicals.

Mr Obama has asked Congress to formally authorize military force against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

BBC