Romney says Obama speeches focus on US standing abroad

NEW YORK (AP) - President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney were arguing over how to address United States (US) challenges in the Middle East and elsewhere overseas in nearly back-to-back addresses on Tuesday at the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative.

Foreign policy has again taken the spotlight from economic issues in the tight presidential race, andMr Obama also was addressing world leaders on Tuesday at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly. His UN visit was expected to be brief so he could get back to campaigning for the less than 10 per cent of voters who say they have yet to make up their minds for the Nov election.

The Obama and Romney speeches at the gathering founded by former President Bill Clinton follow deadly anti-American protests in Muslim countries over an amateur anti-Islam film made in the US.

Mr Romney again pushed for a stronger US stance on Tuesday on such protests, on the civil war in Syria and on Iran's suspected nuclear program, saying, "We feel that we are at the mercy of events, rather than shaping events."