US, UN urge Bahrain leaders to refrain from using violence against protesters

The United States voiced concern over unrest in Bahrain and urged restraint as top officials Thursday spoke to their Bahraini counterparts.
  
In conversations with Bahrain's foreign minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton "expressed deep concern about recent events and urged restraint moving forward," a State Department official told AFP.
  
Bahrain's military deployed armored vehicles in the center of the capital Manama and vowed to restore order Thursday after a violent police raid on anti-regime protesters left four people martyred and scores wounded.
  
Clinton and Sheikh Khaled also "discussed political and economic reform efforts to respond to the citizens of Bahrain," the US official added.
  
Defense Secretary Robert Gates meanwhile "discussed the current security situation" in his conversation with the Deputy Supreme Commander of the Bahraini Defense Force," press secretary Geoff Morrell said in a statement, offering no other detail.
  
The White House said Wednesday it was watching the unrest in Bahrain "very closely" and called on the pro-Western kingdom to allow peaceful anti-government protests.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday also called on the leaders of Bahrain not to use violence against demonstrators and said those responsible for the crackdown should be brought to justice.

"The reports from Bahrain overnight are deeply troubling," he told reporters, adding he was disturbed by the violent methods being used to disperse demonstrators.

"Violence should not be used against peaceful demonstrators and against journalists," he said. "It must stop, and those responsible must be brought to justice."

Ban said that while the situation in individual countries across the Middle East and North Africa is unique, there are common threads visible in the demonstrations.

"Across the region, people are standing up to voice their legitimate aspirations," Ban said."Civil society and young people have led the way."