Obama says Syria settlement needed to eliminate Islamic State

MANILA (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday that Islamic State militants could not be eliminated until there was a political settlement in Syria, which could take some time. Such a resolution would not be possible if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad remained in power, said Obama, who is in Manila to attend the annual Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. (Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by David Ljunggren and Raju Gopalakrishnan)