Obama predicts rise of 'enclave for extremism' in Syria

US President Barack Obama strolled among the ancient Jordanian ruins at Petra on Saturday, on the final leg of a four-day Middle East tour dominated by his embrace of Israel. Obama flew by helicopter to view the rose-coloured stone ruins of the former Nabataean kingdom after winds from a sandstorm abated and allowed him to make the 55-minute trip across the valleys and mountains of Jordan. The US president, on the first overseas trip of his second term, emerged into a sunlit square dominated by the facade of the iconic al-Kazeneh building at Petra, carved out of the towering walls of sandstone rocks in southern Jordan. "This is pretty spectacular," exclaimed Obama, wearing a blue windbreaker, sweater, khaki trousers and sunglasses, as he took in the scale of the elaborate architecture. Obama entered the site through the Siq, a narrow passageway between rock formations. The US president was led through the World Heritage Site by Dr Suleiman al-Farajat, a University of Jordan tourism professor. The visit to Petra, Jordan's most-visited tourist site, wrapped up a four-day stay in the Middle East designed to assure Israel he is serious about its defence from Iran and to keep Israeli-Palestinian peace hopes alive. At a news conference on Friday in Jordan, Obama expressed his concerns that Syria could become an enclave of "extremism" as his own policy towards the vicious sectarian war threatening to tear the nation apart, comes under scrutiny. "(Extremists) are very good about exploiting situations that, you know, are no longer functioning. They fill that gap," Obama said during the press conference held with King Abdullah II of Jordan. Obama's reluctance to arm opposition groups in Syria, fearing they are, or could transform into, extremist Islamist foes with links to al-Qaeda, dogged him during questioning by journalists. The American president also said he would ask Congress to provide $200 million in budget support for Jordan this year to help finance the care of more than 450,000 Syrian refugees. "This will mean more humanitarian assistance and basic services, including education for Syrian children so far from home, whose lives have been upended," he said. At least 120,000 Syrian refugees are living in the sprawling northern border camp of Zaatari alone, and Jordan has repeatedly complained that the growing numbers of Syrians, expected to reach 700,000 this year, are draining its resources. Obama also warned  that the use of chemical weapons by Syria's armed forces would be a "game changer" that would invite international action. He wrapped up his first visit to Israel as president on Friday by giving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom he had feuded in his first term, a hug. He also pulled off an unexpected coup, engineering a deal to restore diplomatic relations between estranged US allies Israel and Turkey, concluded in a tarmac telephone call at Tel Aviv airport before he departed for Jordan. Netanyahu apologised to Turkey and his counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a deadly raid on a Gaza aid flotilla, and announced a full resumption of diplomatic ties as well as compensation to end a near three-year row. Obama cautioned that the deal, though important, should not spark too much euphoria, saying: "You know, this is a work in progress. It's just beginning." "There are obviously going to still be some significant disagreements between Turkey and Israel not just on the Palestinian question but on a range of different issues." The centrepiece of Obama's visit to Israel was a powerful, and direct appeal to young Israelis on Thursday when he declared the two-state peace solution was very much alive and their only hope of true security, urging them to try to see the situation through Palestinian eyes. He also accepted that Israel had a right to ensure its self-defence, but urged time for his diplomatic push to work to halt Iran's controversial nuclear programme.