WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Newt Gingrich’s comment that the Palestinians are an “invented people” was unhelpful, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday, saying the Republican presidential candidate had realized this.

Gingrich, a former speaker of the House of Representatives, stirred controversy on Friday when told the Jewish Channel cable television broadcaster he saw the Palestinians as an invented people who want to destroy Israel.

“Remember, there was no Palestine as a state. It was part of the Ottoman Empire” until the early 20th century, Gingrich said in the interview.

“I think that we’ve had an invented Palestinian people who are in fact Arabs and who were historically part of the Arab community. And they had a chance to go many places and for a variety of political reasons we have sustained this war against Israel now since the 1940s, and it’s tragic,” he said.

Asked by PBS Newshour Executive Editor Jim Lehrer at an event on economic innovation whether Gingrich’s comment about the Palestinians being an “invented people” was helpful, Clinton replied: “No.”

“I think he recognized that from what I read,” she added, speaking at an event on Innovation and the Global Marketplace. “I think he realized that was you know one of those innovative moments that happen.”

Gingrich along with other Republican candidates are seeking to attract Jewish support for the November 2012 elections by vowing to bolster U.S. ties with Israel.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) – Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged private industry to protect Internet freedoms Thursday, saying it was vital to promote online rights amid restrictions in Russia, Syria and China.

Speaking at a conference on Internet freedom, Clinton said it was “an urgent task” to preserve civil liberties online and argued that corporations can protect their own reputations by thinking twice before doing business with repressive governments.

“It is most urgent, of course, for those around the world whose words are now censored, who are imprisoned because of what they or others have written online, who are blocked from accessing entire categories of Internet content, or who are being tracked by governments seeking to keep them from connecting with one another,” she said at the conference, co-hosted by Google Inc. and the Dutch foreign minister.

The use of social networking websites during this year’s “Arab Spring” of popular uprisings in the Middle East helped bring down authoritarian governments in Egypt and Tunisia and prompted counter attacks by governments against the Internet.

The Internet remains a battleground in many countries, including in Syria, where Clinton said an anti-government blogger named Anas Al-Marawi was arrested on July 1 after demanding that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad leave power.

In Russia, where observers witnessed ballot-stuffing and other irregularities in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, prominent anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 15 days in jail after taking part in anti-government protests.

Clinton urged high-tech companies to be vigilant about marketing their products to countries that will use them to help governments abuse their citizens’ digital rights.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Russia said on Thursday that time was running out to conclude a missile defense deal with NATO, as the alliance insisted it would press ahead with a project it says is aimed at countering threats from states such as Iran.

Moscow is seeking legal guarantees that NATO’s planned missile defense system is not aimed at limiting Russia’s strategic nuclear capability, and wants joint control of how the system is used. Moscow has said it will take military counter-measures if necessary.

NATO, however, wants separate systems.

“It does not affect our strategic balance with Russia and certainly is not a cause for military counter-measures,” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said of the missile defense plan at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels.

“That said, no ally within NATO is going to give any other country outside the alliance a veto over whether NATO protects itself by building a missile defense system against the threats that we perceive are the most salient,” she added.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated during a meeting with his NATO counterparts his country’s concerns about plans to station elements of the missile defense system near Russia, in NATO member states Poland, Romania and Turkey.

These would include radar that would have coverage extending into Russian territory. Russia has threatened to deploy missiles and radar near NATO territory to counter the system, if an agreement to cooperate cannot be reached.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Russia warned on Thursday time was running out to conclude a missile defense deal with NATO after the two failed again to bridge differences on a project the alliance says is aimed at countering threats from states like Iran.

“We do not agree yet,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told reporters after talks in Brussels between NATO foreign ministers and their Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

“We all agree it is important to keep on trying to keep on talking to keep on listening to each others concerns,” he said. “If we can agree on this issue it will take our relationship to the next level,” he added, saying NATO still hoped to reach an outline pact with Russia by a NATO summit in Chicago next May.

Lavrov said the two sides had had a “useful” discussion, but reiterated a demand for guarantees that the system did not target Russia given Moscow’s concerns about the stationing of the shield’s military infrastructure near Russian territory.

“We believe we still have some time to reach a mutually beneficial solution,” he told a news conference. “We still have some time, but time is running out every day.”

Both Rasmussen and Lavrov said the two sides had agreed to strengthen cooperation in other areas, including the fight against terrorism, and NATO ministers backed Russian proposals to boost cooperation in combating maritime piracy.

While Russia is interested in cooperating with NATO on missile defense, it is seeking legal guarantees that NATO’s planned system is not aimed at limiting Russia’s strategic nuclear capability and wants joint control of how it is used.

GENEVA/BEIRUT (Reuters) – The United States has called for a new regime of tolerance and freedom in Syria as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad battled fighters infiltrating the country to join the growing rebel army trying to overthrow him.

Speaking after meeting members of the opposition Syrian National Council in Geneva, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Syrians must not only remove Assad but also advance towards the rule of law.

“A democratic transition includes more than removing the Assad regime,” Clinton said. “It means setting Syria on the path of the rule of law and protecting the universal rights of all citizens, regardless of sect or ethnicity or gender.”

What began nearly nine months ago as a peaceful protest against Assad, inspired by the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt, is creeping closer to civil war as armed opposition groups organize and move into some city districts.

The United States, the European Union, Turkey and Jordan have called on Assad to step down in order to bring the violence to an end and permit democratic elections for a new government in a country where the Assad family has ruled for 40 years.

Washington said on Tuesday it was sending ambassador Robert Ford back to Damascus six weeks after he was withdrawn for safety reasons. Ford had angered Syrian officials with his public displays of support for protesters.

Clinton said the opposition understood that Syrian minorities needed to be reassured they would be better off “under a regime of tolerance and freedom.” Assad is a member of the Alawite minority sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, while most Syrians are Sunni Muslims.

GENEVA (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged the Syrian opposition on Tuesday to build a society based on rule of law and respect for minority rights so that Syria is no longer subject to “the whims of a dictator.”

Clinton delivered the message as she met six members of the Syrian National Council (SNC), an exile group seeking to pave the way to a democratic transition to end the 41-year rule of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his late father.

Among Syrians reluctant to see a change of leadership are many members of substantial religious minorities, including Assad’s minority Alawite sect and Christians, who fear a new government may be dominated by Sunni Muslim Islamists.

Separately, the United States on Tuesday said it would send its ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, back to Damascus six weeks after he was pulled out because of concerns about his safety.

What began nine months ago as peaceful protests against Assad, inspired by the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt, has slid closer to civil war as armed opposition groups organize.

At least 4,000 people have been killed in the violence, according to the United Nations.

Meeting Syrian exiles for the second time in six months, Clinton stressed the importance of protecting minority rights in a country whose Sunni majority has long been dominated by Assad’s Alawites. Their sect is an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, the religion of Assad’s allies in Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

GENEVA (Reuters) – The United States called on Tuesday for a new regime of tolerance and freedom in Syria as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad battled fighters infiltrating the country to join the growing rebel army trying to overthrow him.

Speaking after meeting members of the opposition Syrian National Council in Geneva, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Syrians must not only remove Assad but also advance towards the rule of law.

“A democratic transition includes more than removing the Assad regime,” Clinton said.

“It means setting Syria on the path of the rule of law and protecting the universal rights of all citizens regardless of sect or ethnicity or gender,” she told reporters.

What began nearly nine months ago as a peaceful protest against Assad, inspired by the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt, is creeping closer to civil war as armed opposition groups organize and move into some city districts.

The United States, the European Union, Turkey and Jordan have called on Assad to step down in order to bring the violence to an end and permit democratic elections for a new government in a country where the Assad family has ruled for 40 years.

Clinton added the opposition understood that Syrian minorities needed to be reassured they would be better off “under a regime of tolerance and freedom.” Assad is a member of the Alawite minority sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, while most Syrians are Sunni Muslims.

GENEVA (Reuters) – Syria’s opposition needs to reassure members of minority communities that they will be protected if President Bashar al-Assad is toppled, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.

“A democratic transition includes more than removing the Assad regime. It means setting Syria on the path of the rule of law and protecting the universal rights of all citizens regardless of sect or ethnicity or gender,” Clinton said as she began a meeting with Syrian opposition members in Geneva.

Assad is a member of the Alawite minority sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, while most Syrians are Sunni Muslims. Some Alawites, Christians and members of other minority groups are fearful that their rights may not be protected if Assad is toppled by an opposition which includes Sunni Islamist groups.

Sitting across a table from six members of the opposition Syrian National Council, Clinton said minorities needed to be sure they would be better off under a government run by Assad’s opponents.

“We will discuss the work that the Council is doing to ensure that their plan is to reach out to all minorities to counter the regime’s divide-and-conquer approach, which pits ethnic and religious groups against one another,” she said.

“The Syrian opposition that is represented here recognises that Syria’s minorities have legitimate questions and concerns about their future and that they need to be assured that Syria will be better off under a regime of tolerance and freedom….”

The United States has repeatedly called for Assad to leave power since his government launched a crackdown on an “Arab Spring” revolution eight months ago.

GENEVA (Reuters) – Syria’s opposition needs to reassure members of minority communities that they will be protected if President Bashar al-Assad is toppled, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday.

“A democratic transition includes more than removing the Assad regime. It means setting Syria on the path of the rule of law and protecting the universal rights of all citizens regardless of sect or ethnicity or gender,” Clinton said as she began a meeting with Syrian opposition members in Geneva.

Assad is a member of the Alawite minority sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam, while most Syrians are Sunni Muslims. Some Alawites, Christians and members of other minority groups are fearful that their rights may not be protected if Assad is toppled by an opposition which includes Sunni Islamist groups.

Sitting across a table from six members of the opposition Syrian National Council, Clinton said minorities needed to be sure they would be better off under a government run by Assad’s opponents.

“We will discuss the work that the Council is doing to ensure that their plan is to reach out to all minorities to counter the regime’s divide-and-conquer approach, which pits ethnic and religious groups against one another,” she said.

“The Syrian opposition that is represented here recognises that Syria’s minorities have legitimate questions and concerns about their future and that they need to be assured that Syria will be better off under a regime of tolerance and freedom….”

The United States has repeatedly called for Assad to leave power since his government launched a crackdown on an “Arab Spring” revolution eight months ago.

VILNIUS (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested on Tuesday that Russia’s elections were neither free nor fair, and Germany urged Moscow to make democratic improvements.

For a second day running, Clinton cited “serious concerns” about the Sunday election in which Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s parliamentary majority was slashed. Observers said the vote was marred by ballot-stuffing and other irregularities.

“When authorities fail to prosecute those who attack people for exercising their rights or exposing abuses, they subvert justice and undermine the people’s confidence in their governments,” Clinton said in a speech at the meeting of the 56-nation OSCE, Europe’s biggest rights watchdog.

“As we have seen in many places, and most recently in the Duma elections in Russia, elections that are neither free nor fair have the same effect,” she added, in comments that went a step further than her criticism of the vote on Monday.

Clinton repeated U.S. concerns that the independent Russian political party Parnas was denied the right to register for Sunday’s Duma elections, and that observers such as the Golos network suffered cyber attacks.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said his country had noted with concern the reports received from election observers sent by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

“They show that the Russian Federation still has a way to go to fulfil all of the OSCE standards,” he told the meeting.