Clinton urges more Bahrain reforms

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20 (UPI) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the United States would go on urging Bahrain to reform its government and respect the human rights of demonstrators.

In an interview aired Sunday on ABC's "This Week," Clinton said Bahrain was already on the road to reform and the Obama administration wanted "to see them get back to that as quickly as possible."

Clinton also downplayed comparisons between the U.S. stance on Bahrain and the more-forceful calls for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

"We try to hold everyone to a similar standard, but we cannot dictate the outcomes," Clinton said. "We had no control over what happened in Egypt. We expressed our opinion as we went along and were working with our Egyptian counterparts so that their transition is peaceful, meaningful, transparent, produces results."

On NBC's "Meet the Press," U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice echoed Clinton, saying the U.S. approach to the protests has been consistent and urged the governments involved to respect protesters' rights.

"Throughout the course of this entire administration, we have been saying to our friends and partners in the Arab and Muslim world that there needs to be a process for, for reform, that there are conditions that are inherently unstable: a youth bulge, high unemployment, a lack of political openness," Rice said. "And we have pressed publicly and privately for the kind of change that is necessary."

When it comes to Bahrain, Rice said she can't predict what will happen in what she called a "volatile" situation.

"What we're encouraging Bahrain and other governments in the region to do is to recognize that this is a yearning for change and reform that is not going to go away, that it needs to be respected, and that they need to get ahead of it by leading rather than being pushed," she said.