President Barack Obama says world must not succumb to fear of terror

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Obama called for resolve in the face of heightened threats from jihadists
He also made his most determined pledge yet to win the fight against ISIS
Added the most powerful tool to fight them is to show that ‘we're not afraid’
He also urged world leaders not to abandon a climate summit in Paris in the wake of the terror attacks that claimed 130 lives
For more on Obama's reaction to ISIS visit www.dailymail.co.uk/obama

Published: 06:38 EST, 22 November 2015 | Updated: 12:10 EST, 22 November 2015

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President Barack Obama has said the world must not succumb to the fear of terror and insisted that he will wipe out ISIS.

Obama called for resolve in the face of heightened threats from jihadists, adding that the most powerful tool to fight terrorists is to show steel and that ‘we are not afraid’.

That starts, he said, with leaders who are scheduled to attend climate talks later this month in Paris, where 130 people were killed in a single night of blood-soaked violence.

With Brussels in lockdown, and cities from Beirut to Bamako reeling from terror attacks, Obama urged world leaders not to abandon the summit.

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Speaking in Kuala Lumpure on Sunday, President Barack Obama has said the world must not succumb to the fear of terror and insisted that he will wipe out ISIS

Barack Obama waves as he boards Air Force One for his departure at the Royal Malaysian Airforce base in Subang, outside Kuala Lumpur on Sunday

The perpetrators of the Paris attacks were not ‘masterminds’, he said, but just ‘a bunch of killers with good social media’.

‘It's absolutely vital for every country, every leader, to send a signal that the viciousness of a handful of killers does not stop the world from doing vital business,’ he said.

‘Paris, one of the most beautiful, enticing cities in the world, is not going to be cowered by the violent demented actions of a few,’ he added.

And facing accusations that he has allowed ISIS to spread by refusing to send US troops to Syria or step up the air campaign there, Obama made his most determined pledge yet to win the fight against the terror organization.

US President Barack Obama, pictured during a photo session of heads of delegations participating in the 10th East Asia Summit at the 27th ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sunday

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev (left) shakes hands with Obama before a session of the 10th East Asia Summit (EAS) at the 27th ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Sunday

‘The American people in the past have confronted some very real, enormous threats,’ he said. ‘And we beat them. We vanquished them. This will be no different.’

Speaking in Kuala Lumpur, the US president sought to show that even as allies take the fight to Syria and Iraq, an equally vital battle needs be fought on the home front.

Using an acronym for the Islamic State group, he added: ‘In addition to hunting down terrorists, in addition to effective intelligence, in addition to missile strikes and in addition to cutting off financing, the most powerful tool we have to fight ISIL is to say that we're not afraid.

‘They cannot strike a mortal blow against France or the United States or a country like Malaysia, but they can make people fearful.’

A memorial to the victims of the Paris attacks in front of the Carillon restaurant on November 20, after a single night of violence claimed the lives of 130 people

Malian troops patrol outside the Radisson Blu hotel in Bamako on Saturday in the wake of the previous day's siege

Obama was ending a nine-day trip to Turkey and Asia that has been clouded by the Paris terror attacks as well as credible threats that prompted Belgian authorities to deploy troops and impose a lockdown as they hunt suspects.

Amid wall-to-wall television coverage of the terror threats, Obama urged journalists to ‘maintain perspective’.

He also addressed the shrill calls for the United States to close its doors to refugees from Syria and Iraq, for fear that terrorists may lurk among them.

Obama, the son of a migrant mother and father, voiced his personal determination to face down anti-refugee measures that he has already threatened to veto.

He urged Americans - fearful that they too may come under assault - against ‘succumbing to the fear that allows us to abandon our values, to abandon how we live’.

Remembering a Saturday visit to children from Myanmar at a refugee centre in Malaysia, he urged compassion.

‘If you are a parent and you saw those kids, and thought about what they went through, the notion we couldn't find a home for them anywhere in the United States of America...?’ he said, before trailing off into anger.

‘That is contrary to our values.’