Clinton urges peaceful resolution to Bahrain unrest
Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:28 GMT
CAIRO, March 15 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday she had told Saudi Arabia's foreign minister that dialogue was needed to bring about a peaceful resolution to unrest in Bahrain.
Clinton was speaking in Cairo on the same day as Bahrain's king declared martial law in a move to quell an uprising by the island's Shi'ite Muslim majority. Troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbour Saudi Arabia intervened in the crisis on Monday at Bahrain's request.
"I said (to Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal) that the security challenges cannot be a substitute for a political resolution. And as they are moving in to respond to the request by the government of Bahrain, they along with everyone else, needs to be promoting the dialogue between the parties," Clinton told a news conference.
"Our advice to all sides is that they must take steps now to negotiate toward a political resolution."
The United States is a close ally of both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and the uprising poses another foreign policy headache for the Obama administration as it struggles to respond to multiple uprisings in the Arab world. (Reporting by Arshad Mohamed, Writing by Angus MacSwan; Editing by Matthew Jones)
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