Obama calls for a world fight against terror
Barack Obama has highlighted the Sydney cafe siege as part of the recent wave of terror attacks that have inspired a summit on "violent extremism" he will host in Washington next month.
The White House announced the summit yesterday, saying international partners in the fight against terrorism would be invited for top-level talks on stopping foreign fighters from flocking to the Middle East.
Australia will be represented at the summit but it is unclear whether the event will be for leaders, senior ministers or heads of intelligence agencies.
"The planning of the summit is still in early stages," a spokesman for Tony Abbott said.
"Australia will consider representation once further details are settled." The Prime Minister has been one of the most vocal leaders for stopping the Islamic State militants who have taken over swaths of Syria and Iraq and are urging followers to launch terrorist strikes in Western countries.
Mr Abbott has previously made much of not using the IS name or its variations, referring to it simply as a "death cult".
But in an interview yesterday, Mr Abbott said he would refer to the terror group as DAESH because it hated being called that.
DAESH is the acronym of the group's Arabic name but the terrorists are offended by it because it sounds similar to Arabic words "daes" which means "one who crushes something underfoot", and "dahes", which means "one who sows discord".
Acting PM Warren Truss said to call the group "Islamic State" when there was no actual state was a misnomer.
"If we do things they don't like, that doesn't upset me too much," he said.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten backed the name change.
Mr Obama has been criticised for not joining other world leaders and 1.6 million people in Paris on Sunday for the show of solidarity against terrorism and to honour the 17 victims killed last week in the French capital.
The summit he has called for February 18 was first set down for October.
But the White House said efforts to stop violent radicals had been "made even more imperative in light of recent, tragic attacks in Ottawa, Sydney and Paris".
