(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - In a meeting with Bahraini Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa at the White House, Obama voiced his “strong support for the crown prince's ongoing efforts to initiate the national dialogue,” a White House statement said.
The Bahraini crown prince also met with US National Security Advisor Tom Donilon.
Earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Al Khalifa efforts to deal with the ongoing revolution in Bahrain.
"Bahrain is a partner and a very important one to the United States and we are supportive of their national dialogue and the kinds of important work that the crown prince has been doing in his nation, and we look forward to it," Clinton said.
Meanwhile, Clinton stopped short of commenting on the Saudi-backed heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protests in Bahrain over the past months.
Bahraini opposition groups have lashed out at US for what they have described as Washington's double-standards on the revolutions in the Arab world.
Bahraini people have been engaged in near daily anti-government protest rallies since mid-February, calling for an end to the despotic rule of the Al Khalifa family. Last March, Saudi Arabia and the UAE deployed their troops to the small Persian Gulf island nation to help the Manama regime in its brutal crackdown on protesters.
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