Bahrain, US long-standing relations hailed

By Farishta Saeed Manama, Oct.31 (BNA): The US Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was pleased to be in Bahrain and to be part of an essential forum, referring to the Manama Dialogue. "It is a real pleasure to be here at Manama Dialogue in Bahrain, a close valued and long standing partner of the United States," he said at a press conference on the sideline of the conference that will come to an end on Sunday. "I had a long and productive meeting with HRH Crown Prince and Deputy Commander in Chief Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa today and HE the Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa and I look forward this afternoon to meeting His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa." Blinken said the United States in Bahrain already cooperate in many issues. Our ties are going stronger and deeper," he added. "A forum like this offers an urgently needed setting to assess current realities and discuss how to build the future that we all seek in the Middle East, the one we actually sustain peace, security and stability over a long term. "We are more deeply engaged in the region than ever before, diplomatically, economically, culturally and militarily. "Our engagement today is grounded to our deep commitment to the Middle East and its people. A region that is home to our strongest and closest allies and as President Barak Obama made it clear defending them against aggression has always been and will remain our core interest of the United States. Blinken added: "We are intensifying our efforts in Syria diplomatically and push at the same time for a political transition. We have to be able to deal with both Daish and the civil war in Syria and the Assad problem at the same time. "What we are seeing with the Syrian issue is a growing recognition that there is no military way forward in terms of any party being victorious. Russians are beginning to discover that with their own intervention. There has been Russian bombs dropping indiscriminately against anyone who opposes Assad. "They made very little progress in the time they were engaged. So now there is recognition there military act is not the solution there. "In regards to the conflict in Yemen, the US felt strongly when the Houthis tried to take over the country by force and threaten our Saudi partner that should not stand so we joined in supporting the efforts principally by Saudi Arabia and UAE to reverse what the Houthis were trying to do and to get back to political process and to negotiation to decide the future of the country," said Blinken.