President Barack Obama will review military strategy against the Islamic
State group, press nations to admit more refugees and review progress
around the world, despite new challenges, when he makes his final
appearance at the U.N. General Assembly session in New York next week, the
White House said Friday.
On the sidelines of the session, Obama has scheduled meetings with the
leaders of Iraq, Nigeria and Colombia and plans to promote trade between
the U.S. and Africa.
Obama heads to New York on Sunday for the General Assembly session that
opens Monday, his eighth and final as president.
He plans to sit down Monday with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to
discuss progress the country has made countering the Islamic State group,
a coming Iraqi military operation to take back the city of Mosul from IS
militants, and a brewing humanitarian crisis inside Iraq, said Ben Rhodes,
Obama’s deputy national security adviser.
Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said this week while visiting
Baghdad that Iraqi forces aided by the U.S.-led coalition against IS had
retaken half the territory that militants once held in the country. He
also announced more than $181 million in aid to address a humanitarian
crisis that has festered in Iraq as a result of the insurgency.
Despite a series of major defeats in recent months, IS has maintained its
grip on Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city. Iraq hopes to launch an
operation this year to retake Mosul.
Obama delivers his final address to the yearly gathering of world leaders
on Tuesday, and will use the opportunity to “step back” and review some of
the progress over the past eight years along with “some of the trends that
have been shaping our international order,” said Rhodes, previewing the
trip for reporters.
The Syrian conflict continues to confound world leaders, although a recent
cease-fire agreement appears to be holding, but Syria has not yet allowed
humanitarian aid to flow to the city of Aleppo and other affected areas.
Meanwhile, North Korea continues to defy the international community with
its recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
Obama also plans to meet Tuesday with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari,
who has held office for just over a year, to talk about continued U.S.
support for security and economic changes in the country, as well the
government’s efforts to counter the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram.
At a summit on refugees that the president is hosting, Obama is expected
to press more nations to open their borders and help double the number of
refugees who are resettled around the world. Mexico, Sweden, Canada,
Germany, Jordan and Ethiopia are co-hosting the summit along with U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Europe has shouldered a large portion of the Syrian refugee crisis. Canada
welcomed 25,000 Syrian refugees, and the U.S. recently met its goal of
resettling 10,000 Syrian refugees this year.
Obama will devote a portion of Wednesday, the final day of the General
Assembly session, to promoting trade between the U.S. and Africa. He was
attending a summit with some 200 American and African CEOs, and African
heads of state.
The president also plans to meet with Colombian President Juan Manuel
Santos, mainly to discuss a historic peace agreement recently struck
between Santos’ government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
rebel group to end 52 years of hostilities, the Western Hemisphere’s
longest-running war.
The U.S. supported the peace effort, and the people of Colombia will vote
on it a nationwide referendum in early October.
On Sunday evening in New York, Obama was headlining a Democratic Party
fundraiser.