US urges Bahrain reforms after mass protests

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A top US official spoke with Bahrain’s crown prince, urging him to respect human rights and launch “meaningful” reform after mass protests, The White House said.

US National Security Adviser Tom Donilon had a telephone conversation with Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa a day after President Barack Obama condemned a clampdown on bloody anti-regime protests.

“Mr. Donilon reiterated the president’s condemnation of violence used against peaceful protesters, and expressed support for the steps that the crown prince has ordered taken to show restraint and initiate dialogue,” the statement said.

In an apparently conciliatory move, police and troops earlier withdrew from Manama’s Pearl Square, the focal point of the demonstrations.

The crown prince later ordered the security forces to stay away and asked the “crowds to leave” to start a “new phase of national action that would bring together all parties,” according to the BNA state news agency.

The pro-Western and strategically vital Gulf kingdom has faced growing pressure to talk to the Shiite-led opposition, which demands that the government resign before talks offered by the king can begin.

“As a long-standing partner of Bahrain, the United States believes that the stability of Bahrain depends upon respect for the universal rights of the people of Bahrain, and a process of meaningful reform that is responsive to the aspirations of all Bahrainis,” the White House added.

During a call to King Hamad bin Issa al-Khalifa on Friday, Obama said the country’s stability “depends upon respect for the universal rights of the people of Bahrain,” according to another White House statement.

The tiny Gulf ally, which has Sunni rulers governing over a restive Shiite majority near Shiite but non-Arab Iran, also houses the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet.

It is adjacent to an oil-producing province in Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia where Shiites have also complained of unfair leadership.

On Saturday, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton called for dialogue in Bahrain “without delay,” saying she was “deeply concerned” about the violence.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague also denounced the “clearly unacceptable and horrifying” crackdown in Libya, urging authorities across the region to refrain from violence.

The wave of unrest spreading across the Middle East and North Africa is testing the underpinnings of US policy, which for decades has seen Washington side with rulers who kept a lid on dissent but provided relative geopolitical stability.