US President Barack Obama has cancelled a meeting with controversial Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who had earlier called him a “son of a whore”.
Mr Duterte was responding to the US president’s promise to raise the issue of drug-related extra-judicial killings in the Philippines at their meeting.
The Filipino leader is known for his colourful language, though this time it has had a diplomatic impact, correspondents say.
He has now said he regrets the remark.
“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,” a statement by his office said.
Both presidents are among leaders gathering for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Laos and President Obama is reportedly the first sitting US president to make an official visit to Laos.
Mr Obama, who flew to Laos after attending the G20 meeting in Hangzhou, China, had 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”.
His aides later cancelled the talks.
This is not the first time the Philippine President has targeted such insulting words at prominent figures.
He has called Pope Francis the “son of a whore”, Secretary of State John Kerry “crazy” and recently referred to the US ambassador to the Philippines a “gay son of a whore”.
This round of Asean talks comes against the backdrop of tensions over China’s territorial ambitions in the South China Sea – the Philippines and the US are key players in that debate.
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