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Obama: Mideast must 'lift up their citizens'

Obama: Mideast must 'lift up their citizens'
Posted at 5:20 AM, Feb 08, 2016
and last updated 2016-02-08 06:20:39-05

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Barack Obama said 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 Monday at the World Government Summit in Dubai. World leaders are gathered in this city-state in the United Arab Emirates for several days of talks about the future of governance.