DHAKA: US president Barack Obama has cancelled his meeting with his Philippine counterpart Rodrigo Duterte who earlier called him ‘son of a whore’.

Duterte was responding on Obama’s promise to raise the recent extra-judicial drug related killings in their scheduled meeting.

US aides later confirmed BBC that Obama will meet South Korean president instead.

However, Duterten later issued a statement saying he regrets that the attack was on personal level and said his gesture was ‘rude.’

“While the immediate cause was my strong comments to certain press questions that elicited concern and distress, we also regret that it came across as a personal attack on the US President,” the statement said.

Both presidents are among leaders gathering for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Laos.

Obama initially appeared to play down the insult saying that he had asked his aides to work out if this is ‘a time where we can have some constructive, productive conversations’.

BDST: 1633 HRS, SEP 06, 2016
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