AFP reported that the United States’ Assistant Secretary of State, Jeffrey Feltman, said on Tuesday his country is pushing governments in the Middle East to meet pressing demands for reform and to realize that, as he put it, the “climate has changed.”
During a three-day visit to Jordan, Feltman told reporters in Amman that “we are telling the governments your people are talking. Meet their demands and aspirations. The responsibility of governments and leaders is to address the challenges in their countries.”
Feltman added that “we have seen what had taken place in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain, Syria, and we have had some demonstrations here, there were commonalities. Leaders must understand that the climate has changed.”
He addressed the violent crackdown on the protesters in Syria, saying: “There are other ways to deal with protests, other than turning tanks against the civilians. We would like to see Syria play a constructive role in the region. We have had problems with Syria for a long time ... We are quite disappointed with the way Syria handled the peaceful protests.”
Meanwhile, the Insan human rights groups said the civilian death toll from the crackdown during demonstrations in Syria has topped 607. The Syrian army, in an attempt to weaken the protests, has used tanks to shoot at civilians in cities such as Daraa and Banias.
Despite Feltman’s criticism of the events in Syria, and while the U.S. placed some weak sanctions on three Syrian officials last Friday, it has been careful not to blame Syrian President Bashar Assad for the violence in the country.
Friday’s sanctions freeze the assets of the three officials, including two relatives of Assad, but will have a limited effect because all three men, like other Syrian leaders, keep most of their money in banks in the Middle East and Europe. Washington did not explain why Assad, who rules the country, is not to blame for the violence.
Feltman also accused Iran on Tuesday of “providing non-material support in Syria in a negative way,” adding that “Iran would like to exploit the non-certainty in the region ... any development in the region, to its advantage.”
AFP reported that while in Jordan, Feltman held talks with U.S. ally King Abdullah II on Jordan's reform plans as well as regional issues. He also met with Jordan’s Foreign Minister, Nasser Judeh.
At the conclusion of his meetings, AFP quoted Feltman as saying: “I spoke to the Jordanians about the planning, the progress and the timeline in the reform effort. Now, I will report back to Washington on the sincerity and seriousness of the Jordanian reform effort.”