Obama: violence not the answer in Egypt

Washington: US President Barack Obama warned Thursday that violence was not the answer to Egypt's political unrest and called on the government and protesters to show restraint.

In his first on-camera reaction to the demonstrations sweeping Egypt, Obama said President Hosni Mubarak had been a very helpful ally to Washington on a host of issues, but said he had frequently pushed the Egyptian leader for political reform.

"Violence is not the answer in solving these problems in Egypt," Obama said in a YouTube question-and-answer session about his State of the Union address on Tuesday.

"The government has to be careful about not resorting to violence. The people on the streets have to be careful about not resorting to violence."

Obama described the demonstrations as the result of "pent-up frustrations" of the population in Egypt, and said he had always made clear to Mubarak it was "absolutely critical" for him to move towards political reform.