Middle East: As protests spread, US urges Oman government to show restraint

Al Jazeera

US calls on Oman to show restraint

Washington has called on Omani authorities to exercise restraint amid pro-democracy protests that have killed several people in the Persian Gulf state.

“We have been in touch with the [Omani] government and encouraged restraint and to resolve differences through dialogue,” AFP quoted US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley as saying in Washington on Monday.

He added that American officials continue to watch the ongoing developments in Oman and urged the country's the US-backed despotic leaders to encourage “dialogue and reform.”

“We continue to encourage the government to undertake reforms that include economic opportunity and move towards greater inclusion and participation in a peaceful political process,” Crowley claimed.

His remarks came on the same day that clashes broke out between Omani security forces and demonstrators in the city of Sohar, located about 200 kilometers (125 miles) northwest of the capital Muscat.

The rulers of the Persian Gulf kingdom have been strongly backed and supported by the US over the years with no expressed concerns about the lack of many basic freedoms in the country.

Police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesters, who had staged a vigil in the city's Earth Roundabout for a third consecutive night to demand better living conditions and political reforms.

Meanwhile, security forces have blocked roads into Sohar in an attempt to prevent any public expressions of dissent from getting worse.

On Sunday, six demonstrators were killed when thousands of people held anti-government protests in Sohar.

The recent demonstrations in the Persian Gulf nation of Oman are the latest sign of revolt in a wave of revolutions that have rocked repressive regimes across Northern Africa and Middle East. The revolutions have so far removed Tunisian and Egyptian rulers from power.

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