Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed "the full range of human rights issues" with Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa of Bahrain, a Gulf island kingdom that hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, the State Department said.

Unrest still roils Bahrain months after the Sunni ruling family brought in troops from Sunni allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help crush a protest movement they said was fomented by Iran and had Shi'ite sectarian motives.

During the meeting, Clinton stressed the importance of an independent panel due to report on the unrest, assess whether it involved rights violations and make recommendations to Bahrain's ruling family.

The panel's report has been delayed until November 23.

"The foreign minister assured her that the government would take the report very seriously and would in fact establish an implementing committee," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters after the meeting.

She said Clinton had stressed "this is a very important commission. The fact that it is independent, the fact that its work will be transparent is not only important for Bahrain but ... for the cause of reform throughout that region."

Washington is trying to fend off charges that it has backed Arab pro-democracy uprisings elsewhere, while condoning the Saudi-backed crackdown in Bahrain, a long-standing Gulf ally.

Earlier this month the State Department told U.S. lawmakers it is delaying a planned $53 million arms sale to Bahrain, pending the outcome of the investigation into alleged human-rights abuses since the uprising began in February.

While the State Department described the meeting in neutral terms, a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity suggested it may have been more contentious.

"They had a full and frank exchange (on) all of the issues that we have in front of us, including the human rights issues," the official said, using a phrase that diplomats often reserve for heated discussions.