Obama plays tourist in Petra as he winds up Mideast trip
Following unexpected diplomatic triumph in Israel, where he announced breakthrough in ties between Jerusalem and Ankara, US president shifts into sightseeing mode in Jordan; Kerry to meet PA's Abbas, PM Netanyahu
US President Barack Obama marveled at the sights of Jordan's ancient city of Petra on Saturday as he wrapped up a four-day Middle East tour by setting aside weighty diplomatic matters and playing tourist for a day.
The visit followed a trip to Israel and the Palestinian Authority that was capped by Obama's brokering of a rapprochement between Israel and Turkey but which offered little more than symbolic gestures toward Middle East peacemaking.
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Before heading to Petra, Obama used his stop in Jordan to ratchet up criticism of Syrian President Bashar Assad, but he stopped short of promising military aid to Syrian rebels to help end a two-year-old civil war that has claimed 70,000 lives.
US officials privately voiced satisfaction with the results of Obama's first foreign trip of his second term, but the president's aides had set expectations so low that it was not hard to proclaim it a mission accomplished.
Shifting into sightseeing mode on Saturday, Obama flew by helicopter to Petra and took a walking tour of the restored ruins of a city more than 2,000 years old which is half-carved into sandstone cliffs.
Ordinary tourists had been cleared out for the president's visit, and guards with assault weapons dogged his every step.
"This is pretty spectacular," the president, wearing sunglasses, khaki trousers and a dark jacket, said as he craned his neck to look up at the Treasury, a towering rose-red facade cut into a mountain. "It's amazing."
The US president arrived in Jordan on Friday after an unexpected diplomatic triumph in Israel, where he announced a breakthrough in relations between Israel and Turkey after a telephone conversation between the countries' prime ministers.
Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu apologized on behalf of his country for the killing of nine Turkish citizens in a 2010 naval raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla, and the two feuding US allies agreed to normalize ties.
'This is pretty spectacular.' Obama tours Petra (Photo: AP)
The 30-minute call was made in a runway trailer at Ben-Gurion Airport, where Obama and Netanyahu huddled before the president boarded Air Force One for a flight to Jordan.
The rapprochement could help Washington marshal regional efforts to contain spillover from the Syrian civil war and ease Israel's diplomatic isolation in the Middle East as it faces challenges posed by Iran's nuclear program.
Photo: AFP
During his visit, Obama appeared to have made some headway in easing Israelis' suspicions of him, calming their concerns about his commitment to confronting Iran and soothing his relationship with the hawkish Netanyahu.
Obama attempted to show Palestinians he had not forgotten their aspirations for statehood but he left many disappointed that he had backtracked from his previous demands for a halt to Israeli settlement building in the West Bank.
Photo: AP
The president offered no new peace proposals but he promised his administration would stay engaged while putting the onus on the two sides to set aside mutual distrust and restart long-dormant negotiations - a step the president failed to bring about in his first term.
As Obama's critics were complaining that his Middle East trip was heavy on symbolism and lacking in substance, the last-minute move toward Israeli-Turkish reconciliation gave his aides a chance to tout a tangible achievement.
Photo: AP
On the last leg of his trip, Obama promised further humanitarian aid in talks with Jordan's King Abdullah, a close ally, as the economically strapped country grapples with a refugee crisis caused by Syria's civil war.
Obama also used the opportunity to underscore US wariness about arming rebels fighting to overthrow Assad, despite pressure from Republican critics at home and from some European allies to do more.
He warned that a post-Assad Syria could become an "enclave" for Islamist extremism and insisted it was vital to help organize the Syrian opposition to avoid that, but he stopped short of announcing any new concrete steps.
US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman before flying to Israel for talks with Netanyahu later on Saturday as he seeks ways to revive long-stalled peace talks.
Obama promised that Kerry, Washington's new top diplomat, would dedicate time and energy to the Israeli-Palestinian problem, one in which the president failed to make progress during his first term. Kerry accompanied Obama on his four-day Middle East trip.
"In addition to meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu this evening, Secretary Kerry will meet with President Abbas at his house in Amman later this afternoon to continue the conversations they started with President Obama and the secretary earlier this week," a State Department official said.
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