The Obama administration expressed alarm over a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters in key US ally Bahrain on Thursday as a wave of political upheaval moved across the Middle East.
And Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged governments in the region to move quickly on long-needed political and economic reforms.
Gates and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke with their counterparts in Bahrain, the longtime home to the US Navy's 5th Fleet and an anchor of US defense strategy in the Mideast.
The outreach came as political unrest that toppled US-backed leaders in Tunisia and Egypt spread to the Persian Gulf and beyond.
Clinton, speaking to reporters after a closed-door briefing with senators, said she was redirecting $150 million in aid money to Egypt "to put ourselves in a position to support the transition there and assist with their economic recovery."
She said senior State Department and White house officials would travel to Egypt next week "to consult on how we can most effectively deploy our assistance."
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