Obama calls violence in Syria 'unacceptable'

WASHINGTON - US President Barack Obama on Tuesday denounced the "levels of violence" in Syria as "unacceptable," vowing to up the pressure to force the Syrian government to step down.

The president discussed a number of regional issues with King Abdullah II of Jordan at his Oval Office, including Syria and the Mideast peace talks.

"Unfortunately, we're continuing to see unacceptable levels of violence inside that country," Obama told reporters after having talks with his guest.

He said the US will "continue to consult very closely with Jordan to create the kind of international pressure and environment that encourages the current Syrian regime to step aside so a more democratic process can take place inside of Syria. "

Syria's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday totally rejected Qatari emir's suggestion of sending Arab troops to help curb the raging 10-month-old violence in Syria, as the Arab League's monitoring mission, which started on December 26, has been criticized as ineffective both from within and without.

Obama commended King Abdullah II for being the first leader to call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down, saying "I want to thank him for his willingness to stand up."

Obama and the king also spent a "great deal of time" discussing the importance of their countries continuing to consult closely to encourage the Palestinians and the Israelis to come back to the table and "negotiate in a serious fashion a peaceful way forward."

The president credited the Jordanians for taking "great leadership" on this issue, as the kingdom has hosted three meetings between the Israelis and the Palestinians since January 3.

The Quartet mediators, which comprises the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, are trying to restart the stalled peace talks.

"Although this is still in the early stages we have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that we can bring the Israelis and Palestinians out of the impasse," King Abdullah II said.

"We believe that those talks offer the parties a real opportunity to make meaningful progress towards peace," White House spokesman Jay Carney said at a regular news briefing.

"We support this progress, but we obviously recognize that there's a long road to travel here to get to a final result," he added.