Obama says Mideast countries must ‘lift up their citizens’

U.S. President Barack Obama says governments across the Middle East that make a “commitment to justice and human rights” will continue to have a friend in America.

Obama also noted the ongoing strife shaking the Mideast in the years following the 2011 Arab Spring.

Obama said: “As we’ve seen in the tumult across the Middle East and North Africa, when governments do not lift up their citizens, it’s a recipe for instability and strife.”

Obama made the comments in a video address shown on Monday at the World Government Summit in Dubai. World leaders are gathered in Dubai for several days of talks about the future of governance.

Photo: Reuters