Obama to host leaders for anti-Daesh meeting

WASHINGTON

President Barack Obama will host world leaders for discussions on the anti-Daesh mission this week, the White House said Monday.

The meeting on the sidelines of the nuclear summit in Washington DC will focus “on our coalition's efforts to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist organization,” spokesman Josh Earnest said in reference to Daesh.

It will focus “on the broader threat” the group poses rather than a specific nuclear dimension, he added.

Earnest did not say exactly when the meeting will take place nor did he outline who will attend. Representatives from 51 countries are expected to attend the Nuclear Security Summit.

The anti-Daesh meeting follows deadly attacks in the Belgian capital, Brussels, claimed by the extremist group.

Officials there continue to investigate the attacks and Earnest said that while improvements have been made on information sharing between the U.S. and its European allies "there is surely more that can and must be done.

"And the attacks that we have seen should serve as a reminder of how critically important it is for the basic fundamentals of intelligence and national security procedures need to be followed," he said.

Obama on Thursday will separately host Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

"This meeting will be an opportunity for the three leaders to discuss common responses to the threat posed by North Korea and to advance areas of trilateral security cooperation in the region and globally,” the White House said.