Iran and Qatar working with Rothschilds to destabilize Bahrain via "Smart Mobs"

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Bahraini rulers play sectarian card in bid to trump pro-democracy movement

By Finian Cunningham
 
Global Research, April 19, 2011


Increasing attacks on Shia mosques in the Bahraini state’s withering crackdown against the pro-democracy movement is a deliberate attempt to isolate the political opposition and amounts to a campaign of “sectarian cleansing”, say human rights groups.

Over the past four weeks since the Saudi-led Gulf Peninsula Shield military intervention in Bahrain, there appears to be a concerted drive by pro-state Sunni forces to target repression at the Shia population and in particular Shia mosques and other religious sites, such as cemeteries and meeting places known as Mattams.

Some mosques have been vandalized, with their doors, windows and the PA systems used in the call to prayer having been smashed. More recently, other mosques, such as the 800-year-old Al Shaboor, near the capital, Manama, have in the past week been razed to the ground with bulldozers. A similar fate was met by five mosques in Hamad Town, about 15km south of Manama.

The pro-democracy uprising that began on February 14 rocked the US-backed Sunni rulers for almost a month before the other Gulf states sent in heavily armed contingencies to quell the protests. But the nature of the military intervention has evidently gone beyond its initial avowed remit of restoring “security and stability”. Over 34 unarmed civilians have been killed, two-thirds of whom since the Saudi-led forces arrived. The latest victim is a 24-year-old woman, Azeeza Ahmed, who was shot dead when army and police raided her home in the village of Belad Al Qadeem on April 16. Up to 600 people, including medics, lawyers and academics, have been unlawfully detained, their whereabouts unknown. At least four people have died while in custody, their released bodies showing signs of torture. Some 1,000 workers have been sacked from jobs in major state-owned industries, accused of participating in anti-regime protests. And the vast majority of these victims of repression are Shia.

Nabeel Rajab, of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, describes the ongoing repression by the Sunni rulers as a “campaign of sectarian cleansing” against the Shia population. The upsurge in seemingly wanton attacks on Shia mosques and religious sites is clearly demonstrative of this, he says. Such attacks, as with the previously mentioned violations, Rajab points out, constitute crimes against humanity – crimes that the governments of the six Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, are in effect party to.

The pro-democracy movement in Bahrain was seen as a largely, but not exclusively, Shia-led movement. This reflects the fact that the Shia represent 70 per cent of the indigenous Bahrain population of less than 600,000, and that this group has historically suffered the most political and economic marginalization under the ruling Al Khalifa family who have held power since the oil-rich shaikhdom was granted independence from Britain in 1971.
However, the calls for replacement of the monarchy and for greater democratic freedoms galvanized Shia and sections of the minority Sunni population as well as labour unions and other secular groups. “Not Sunni, Not Shia, Just Bahraini,” was a common rallying slogan during the heyday of the uprising that saw hundreds of thousands take to the streets of the capital.

Some of the government opposition spokesmen that have been detained, such as Mohammed Abu Flasa and Ebrahim Al Sharif, leader of the National Democratic Action Society, are from Sunni backgrounds.

But, having said that, the repression that has unfolded since the Saudi-led Peninsula Shield entered the country has been directed with disproportionate force at the Shia population.

Pro-democracy sources and human rights groups say that the Bahraini government is now using a policy of divide and rule to isolate the opposition as a “sectarian problem” and in particular a “Shia problem”.

One source, who did want to be named, said: “The targeting of the Shia is a tactic by the regime to distort the pro-democracy movement from a nationalist one into a sectarian one. It is also a way of undermining international support for the pro-democracy movement by trying to present it as an internal problem of the state dealing with ‘troublesome Shia’. In this way, the Bahraini uprising is being made to appear as something different from the uprisings for democracy that have swept the region.”

MORE

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24390



 

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.Published on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 by The Independent/UK

Bahrain Escapes Censure by West as Crackdown on Protesters Intensifies

Saudi troops' demolition of mosques stokes religious tensions

by Patrick Cockburn

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/19-0

Bahraini government forces backed by Saudi Arabian troops are destroying mosques and places of worship of the Shia majority in the island kingdom in a move likely to exacerbate religious hatred across the Muslim world.

Mourners carry the body of Ali Isa Ibrahim Saqer, who died in police custody. The harshness of the government repression is provoking allegations of hypocrisy against Washington, London and Paris. Their mild response to human rights abuses and the Saudi Arabian armed intervention in Bahrain is in stark contrast to their vocal concern for civilians in Libya. (AP)

"So far they have destroyed seven Shia mosques and about 50 religious meeting houses," said Ali al-Aswad, an MP in the Bahraini parliament.

He said Saudi soldiers, part of the 1,000-strong contingent that entered Bahrain last month, had been seen by witnesses helping demolish Shia mosques and shrines in the Sunni-ruled kingdom.

Mohammed Sadiq, of the Justice for Bahrain organisation, said the most famous of the Shia shrines destroyed was that of a revered Bahraini Shia spiritual leader, Sheikh Abdul Amir al-Jamri, who died in 2006. A photograph taken by activists and seen by The Independent shows the golden dome of the shrine lying on the ground and later being taken away on the back of a lorry. On the walls of Shia mosques that have been desecrated, graffiti has been scrawled praising the Sunni King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and insulting the Shia.

The attack on Shia places of worship has provoked a furious reaction among the 250 million Shia community, particularly in Iran and Iraq, where Shia are in a majority, and in Lebanon where they are the largest single community.

The Shia were already angry at the ferocious repression by Bahraini security forces of the pro-democracy movement, which had sought to be non-sectarian. After the monarchy had rejected meaningful reform, the wholly Sunni army and security forces started to crush the largely Shia protests on 15 and 16 March.

The harshness of the government repression is provoking allegations of hypocrisy against Washington, London and Paris. Their mild response to human rights abuses and the Saudi Arabian armed intervention in Bahrain is in stark contrast to their vocal concern for civilians in Libya.

The US and Britain have avoided doing anything that would destabilise Saudi Arabia and the Sunni monarchies in the Gulf, to which they are allied. They are worried about Iran taking advantage of the plight of fellow Shia, although there is no evidence that Iran has any role in fomenting protests despite Bahraini government claims to the contrary. The US has a lot to lose because its Fifth Fleet, responsible for the Gulf and the north of the Indian Ocean, is based in Bahrain.

Sunni-Shia hostility in the Muslim world is likely to deepen because of the demolition of Shia holy places in Bahrain. Shia leaders recall that it was the blowing up of the revered Shia shrine of al-Askari in Samarra, Iraq, by al-Qa'ida in 2006 that provoked a sectarian civil war between Sunni and Shia in which tens of thousands died. They see fundamentalist Wahhabi doctrine, upheld by the state in Saudi Arabia, as being behind the latest sectarian assault and attempt to keep the Shia as second-class citizens. Mr Sadiq believes Saudi troops are behind the attacks on mosques and shrines. "What is happening comes from the ideology of Wahhabism which is against shrines," he said. To the Wahhabi, the Shia are as heretical as Christians. Mr Aswad said soldiers in Saudi uniforms had been seen attending the destruction of Shia religious sites.

MORE

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/19-0

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Middle East
Apr 21, 2011 
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MD21Ak03.html 
 
Iran eyes mediation role in Bahrain


By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

"America is trying to sow discord among Shi'ites and Sunnis... they want to create tension between Iran and Arabs... but their plan will fail." Iranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad in a speech on Monday to mark national Army Day.


After weeks of rising tensions with Saudi Arabia over its military intervention in Bahrain, Iran plans to reposition itself as a mediator rather than a suspected interloper in the political impasse gripping the tiny island.

Behind Tehran's plan is a firm conviction, reflected in Ahmadinejad's speech on Army Day, that the United States and Israel plan to isolate Iran in the region and poison its relations with the Arab world. This would deprive Iran of benefiting politically from the upheavals that have undermined the pro-West status quo in the Middle East.

Chief among these benefits is a new era in Iran-Egypt relations, with Iran's foreign policy machinery working overtime to accelerate the process of normalization ties with Cairo. Iran-Egypt relations were severely damaged following the 1979 Islamic Revolution, and fell apart following Egypt's recognition of Israel in the same year.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi recently welcomed a proposal by Egypt's newly appointed Foreign Minister Nabil al-Arabi for the promotion of bilateral ties. Salehi said that Tehran was ready to resume relations with Cairo.

"Iran is an Islamic country and is not an enemy of Egypt," Field Marshal Tantawi, the head of Egypt's military council, said on April 9.

Iran's blossoming rapprochement with Egypt is an unwanted development for the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, particularly for Riyadh. Saudi Arabia's leadership is currently committing huge resources to whipping up Iran-phobia not only in the Arab world but also in Washington and other Western capitals.

Tantawi's sentiments are shared by a number of prominent Egyptians, including Amr Musa, the head of Arab League. He recently called for "improvement not only in Iran-Egypt relations but also Iran's relations with the entire Arab world."

Another proponent of Iran taking a new role in the Middle East is Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the current head of the (Saudi-led) Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). He said recently that Egypt under Hosni Mubarak maintained the tensions with Iran in order to maintain the flames of sectarian conflicts in the Abode of Islam.

Seyed Hossein Mousavi, a Tehran foreign policy expert, said in an interview with the www.IRDiplomacy.com that Tehran should deprive its enemies of any excuses to isolate it by trying "to calm the regional environment". This includes reaching out to the Bahraini rulers and assuring them that Iran has had no role in the recent mass disturbances as well as offering to mediate between the Bahraini government and the opposition.

Mousavi's otherwise sound advice has the weakness of overlooking the protean value of keeping up heat on Saudi Arabia over its military transgression in Bahrain. Riyadh could interpret Tehran's conciliatory gesture as a sign of weakness and therefore a green light to lengthen its stay in Bahrain, a Shi'ite-dominated country with strong historical connections to Iran.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has threatened to recall its diplomats from Tehran "unless Tehran can protect them", after a number of anti-Saudi student rallies in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy.

A more prudent Iranian response would have been the immediate recall of its ambassador to Saudi Arabia and a stern message that until Saudi Arabia departs from Bahrain there would be no normal relations with Tehran. A historical precedent for this response is US's reaction to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan in 1979.

After their aggression in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia should not be allowed to hold the card of diplomatic brinksmanship, no matter how rattled it is by current setbacks - losing close allies in Egypt, Lebanon, and failing to manipulate Iraq's political system.

However, much depends on the present Iran-Saudi competition over the hearts and minds of other Arab leaders, including the Egyptians, in light of a recent Cairo visit by Iran's envoy to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazaee. This was widely interpreted by the Egyptian media as a clear sign of improvement in bilateral relations, dreaded by the Saudis, whose ambassador to Egypt, Ahmed Alghatan, has gone as far as to threaten Iran with military action.

Fortunately, not everyone in Saudi Arabia is on the same page with Ahmed's sabre-rattling against Iran. A Saudi deputy defense minister, Khaeld Bin Soltan Bin Abdelaziz, has counseled against any rash judgments and on "the necessity of reason in dealing with Iran". His remarks came after a virulent Iran-bashing communique from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Since then, despite a high-profile visit to the region by the US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, during which he gave explicit support for the Saudi-Bahraini strategy of scapegoating Iran for the internal political problems in Bahrain, the diplomatic wheel is slowly turning in Iran's favor. This is partly due to Iran's decision to play the democracy card and appeal to the international community to condemn the Saudi-backed suppression of Bahrain's pro-democracy Shiites.

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi wrote to UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon in April questioning how the body can justify its inaction on Bahrain considering its resolution on Libya. In a clear sign that Iran's diplomatic discourse on Bahrain is paying off, Ban during his recent trip to Doha, Qatar, put the Bahraini leaders on the defensive by calling on them to show restraint vis-a-vis the protesters and to modernize their political system.

However, with the "big brother" Saudis muscling their clout over Bahrain, undermining Bahrain's margin of independent action within the realm of GCC politics, Ban's suggestions should be targeted at the power brokers in the House of Saud.

Kaveh L Afrasiabi, PhD, is the author of After Khomeini: New Directions in Iran's Foreign Policy (Westview Press) . For his Wikipedia entry, click here. He is author of Reading In Iran Foreign Policy After September 11 (BookSurge Publishing , October 23, 2008) and his latest book, Looking for rights at Harvard, is now available.
 
http://atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MD21Ak03.html

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Bahrain: Urgent ITUC Mission Warns of Slide into Dictatorship

International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC)

http://www.ituc-csi.org/bahrain-urgent-ituc-mission-warns.html?lang=en

April 19, 2011

ITUC Deputy General Secretary Jaap Wienen, on an urgent visit to the Bahrain’s capital Manama this weekend, has pledged a comprehensive package of international actions in support of the fundamental rights of Bahrain’s working people, as the trade union movement in the Gulf country faces and all-out assault from the government.

"Bahrain is sliding rapidly towards absolute dictatorship, and the authorities seem intent on creating and deepening sectarian divisions. The Bahraini trade unions have been at the forefront of the movement for dialogue, peace and reconciliation, yet the government has clearly decided to try and destroy them. The international trade union movement will not simply stand by and allow this to happen. If the government does not change course, the global diplomatic and economic consequences will be severe," said Wienen.

Some 2,000 workers in 30 mainly government enterprises have been sacked for joining trade union actions in support of dialogue and an end to violence, including 6 members of the Executive of the ITUC-affiliated General Federation of Bahraini Trade Unions (GFBTU) and 22 local trade union leaders. The ITUC understands that employees of the key employer body, the Chamber of Commerce, have also been dismissed.

The campaign of intimidation by government-sponsored groups has intensified in recent days, with the appearance of billboards including names and photographs of opposition leaders, calling for "no mercy and execution". Journalists are being dismissed and are facing persecution and arrest, and reports continue to emerge of extreme violence by the authorities against people in detention, including the deaths of four detainees. As ITUC member organisations around the world prepare solidarity actions with the GFBTU and its member unions in different sectors, the ITUC is already planning high-level action at the International Labour Organisation.

"Bahrain has ratified ILO Convention 111 which forbids discrimination in employment. The authorities are clearly targeting and discriminating against workers due to their involvement in union activities. Bahrain is also required, as an ILO member state, to respect freedom of association but regrettably the government seems intent on violating these international legal obligations. We will therefore be pursuing this case as a matter of urgency at the ILO as well as in regard to Bahrain’s governmental and commercial relations," Wienen added.

As a first step, the ITUC is calling for the establishment of an ILO Commission of Inquiry into Bahrain’s violations of Convention 111. Such a Commission, which can be convened under Article 26 of the ILO Constitution, is one of the most powerful instruments within the UN system, and the ITUC call reflects the extreme level of concern at the government’s actions. "We are seeing governments around the world now turning their attention to the worsening situation in Bahrain. The trade union movement remains open to serious dialogue to ease tensions and deal with the underlying problems in the economy and society. The government should abandon the path of violence, threats and confrontation including against GFBTU leaders before it is too late," said Wienen.

http://www.ituc-csi.org/bahrain-urgent-ituc-mission-warns.html?lang=en


 

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Exposing The Bahraini Regime

by TVO


Saudi Arabia has sent forces to Bahrain, escalating tensions between the country's predominantly Shia pro-democracy protesters and its Sunni rulers. What does the intervention of Gulf forces mean to the region? Will it provoke Iran? And could Bahrain be the next state to fall?

Posted April 18, 2011

WATCH VIDEO

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5EeapnlzBw&feature=player_embedded



http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27916.htm

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Bahraini forces rape, kill female poet

Wed Apr 20, 2011 10:23AM



Bahraini poet Ayat al-Ghermezi

A female Bahraini activist who has composed anti-government poems has been killed, after being arrested and raped by Manama forces.

MORE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/175790.html

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Reports: Bahrain Raids Shi’ite Hospitals, Arrests Doctors

Crackdowns Continue as PM Accuses Shi'ites of 'Coup Attempt'

by Jason Ditz, April 19, 2011

With the Bahraini government’s state of martial law continuing and 1,500+ foreign troops still operating in the country, the crackdown on Shi’ites is still escalating. A statement from the leading opposition party, al-Wefaq, reports that security forces attacked two hospitals today

MORE

http://news.antiwar.com/2011/04/19/reports-bahrain-raids-shiite-hospitals-arrests-doctors/

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'Bahrain king puts $42bn in Swiss bank'

Thu Apr 21, 2011 8:12AM

The king of Bahrain has transferred billions of dollars to some Swiss bank accounts amid mounting anti-government protests in the Middle Eastern country, a political observer reveals.

MORE  (ARTICLE & VIDEO)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/175953.html

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The 'disappeared'

Bahrain's secret terror

Desperate emails speak of 'genocide' as doctors who
have treated injured protesters are rounded up

By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor


Thursday, 21 April 2011

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/bahrains-secret-terror-2270675.html

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If you're a Bahraini, protesting in the UK can have 'grave consequences'

After a student protest I lost my scholarship for taking part in an 'illegal' demo and was threatened by my education ministry

 
by Suliman al-Bahraini guardian.co.uk,
Wednesday 20 April 2011 14.30 BST


http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/apr/20/bahrain-student-protest-threats

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Interesting Bahrain analysis video from ex-CIA Michael Scheuer on CNN.

http://forum.prisonplanet.com/index.php?topic=206481.0

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AI: Bahrain: A Human Rights Crisis


AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

April 21, 2011

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE11/019/2011/en/5a1d24dd-e2e6-4ae2-b279-00fd167d6e2a/mde110192011en.html


Bahrain today is a country caught in the grip of a spiralling political and human rights crisis. Since 16 March, when the government sent in its army and security forces to storm the Pearl Roundabout area for a second time and clear it of protestors, the small Gulf state has witnessed an intensifying cycle of human rights violations. These include large-scale arbitrary arrests of government critics, opponents and protestors, allegations of torture and other ill-treatment of detainees, at least four of whom have died in custody in suspicious circumstances since the beginning of April, and the use of excessive, including lethal, force by the security forces. Hundreds of state and other employees have been dismissed from their jobs, apparently because of their involvement in or support of the protests, and there is a pervasive climate of fear and signs of an increasing sectarian divide between the minority Sunni Muslim community, which holds the reins of power, and a Shi’a Muslim majority many of whose members consider themselves to be discriminated against and disadvantaged. Meanwhile, foreign migrant workers, notably from the Indian sub-continent, complain that they have been targeted for attack by elements within the Shi’a community and Bahrainis who support the government claim that its clampdown on the opposition and the protests was necessary to "pull Bahrain from the abyss".

MUCH MORE


http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/MDE11/019/2011/en/5a1d24dd-e2e6-4ae2-b279-00fd167d6e2a/mde110192011en.html

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World's unions call for ending attack on Bahrain labor


International Trade Union Confederation.


April 21, 2011

http://uruknet.com/?p=m77034&hd=&size=1&l=e

As of April 20, the authorities in Bahrain have launched an all-out attack on the Bahraini trade union movement. Thousands of workers have been dismissed for taking part in trade union activities in support of the peaceful calls for greater democracy and reform.

Many of the Executive members of the General Federation of Bahraini Trade Unions have been dismissed from their jobs, as have many local trade union leaders. The people of Bahrain are living in a state of fear of further killings and other violence, arbitrary detention, and loss of their livelihoods. Bahrain is sliding into absolute dictatorship, and the elimination of trade union activity is being given a high priority by those in the ruling circles who intend to complete the transformation of the country into a totalitarian state.

Click here to support Bahrain's workers.
http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=899

Originally published by the International Trade Union Confederation.
http://www.ituc-csi.org/bahrain-stop-the-attack-on-the.html
 

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'West fears democracy in Bahrain'


Fri Apr 22, 2011 6:1AM

The West is worried about the emergence of a democratic government in Bahrain, fearing that it will jeopardize its interests in the Middle East, a Bahraini human rights activist says.


“There is a fear among the US and other Western countries that somehow democracy is going to threaten their interests,” Husain Abdulla told Press TV on Thursday.

ARTICLE & VIDEO HERE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/176091.html

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Bahrain forces raid civilian houses


Sat Apr 23, 2011 2:23PM


File photo of anti-government protests in Bahrain

Saudi-backed Bahraini security forces have launched violent attacks on the houses of protesters and activists, who have been taking part in anti-government rallies.

MORE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/176299.html

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Bahrain in the shadow of Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United States



http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/04/25/bahrain.saudi.iran.arshin/index.html?hpt=C1

(CNN) -- There are disturbing accounts from major human rights organizations about abuses in Bahrain and the systematic state violence that has been unleashed on the opposition movement against the monarchy of the Al-Khalifa family.

And yet Bahrain has not become the story because the movement for social justice, government accountability and independence is being violently suppressed, but because of wider strategic calculations that bind the fate of the island to the future of regional politics.

There are at least three strategic issues at stake when it comes to the political present and future of the country. First, Bahrain hosts a major naval base for the U.S. fifth fleet, and the ruling Al-Khalifa family has been a trusted ally of the United States for several decades.

Yet Bahrain's rulers have not taken advantage of the security guarantees provided by successive U.S. governments in order to open up the political system or to sponsor a rather more equitable social and economic order.

According to the constitution of Bahrain the king appoints all members of the upper house of the parliament, while the lower house was voted into office in 2010.

But this has not lead to real political representation of the majority Shia population or to a system of wealth distribution that is equitable. In fact, Bahrain continues to be one of the few hereditary monarchies of the world.

In the absence of a strong legitimacy of the state, systematic violence has functioned as a short cut to safeguard the regime. Hence, the current crackdown, which has not drawn much criticism from the United States and the European Union, who were/are by far louder about the situation in Libya (and indeed about anything that happens in Iran).

The second strategic factor is the involvement of Saudi Arabia. After Yemen, Bahrain is the second country in which the Saudis have intervened militarily in support of long-standing allies battling restive societies.

In Bahrain, military forces dispatched from Saudi Arabia have helped suppress the protest, and for pragmatic reasons: From the perspective of the Saudi state, a Shia-dominated Bahrain could be a potential ally of Iran, and the downfall of a tribal monarchy that rests on a comparably absolute mandate to rule could trigger a domino effect throughout the Arabian peninsula.

After all, demonstrators in both Saudi and Bahrain have made it clear that political power should be shared, that hoarding the political process and the wealth of their countries around a family clique is not acceptable anymore.

The Saudi suspicion toward Iranian motives brings us to the third strategic factor. Ultimately, all major protests by Shia in Saudi Arabia or Bahrain, both during the rule of the Shah and even more so after the Islamic revolution of 1979, have been blamed in one way or another on Iran.

It is true that Iran has a vested interest in what is happening in Bahrain and that the country has a degree of cultural and political influence throughout the wider Persian Gulf area. But in Bahrain, as elsewhere in the Arab world, the demonstrations are not driven by sectarian motives. The revolts are primarily about government accountability, social justice and human rights.

These demands cross religious, ethnic, tribal and class lines. The sectarian card was played by the hardliners in the Al-Khalifa family in order to divert attention away from the demands of the people by blaming Iran for the uprising
 
MORE

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/04/25/bahrain.saudi.iran.arshin/index.html?hpt=C1

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Bahrain Eyes Execution for Group of Protesters

Seven Face Death Over 'Terrorism' Allegations Related to Protests

by Jason Ditz, April 25, 2011

Seven of Bahrain’s Shi’ite protesters are to be sentenced to death, according to the nation’s state media, for their role in the protests and the deaths of two policemen. The regime claimed the protesters “committed their crime for terrorist reasons.”

http://news.antiwar.com/2011/04/25/bahrain-eyes-execution-for-group-of-protesters/

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'US, Saudis behind Bahraini apartheid'

Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:11PM


Interview with Saeed al-Shahabi from the Bahrain Freedom Movement in London


A sectarian apartheid against the majority Shia population is taking place in Bahrain by the ruling al-Khalifa family whose support comes from Saudi Arabia and by proxy from the United States.

TRANSCRIPT & VIDEO HERE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/176883.html

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Britain’s Royal Wedding Fiasco and its "Dirty little Secret" in Bahrain

By Finian Cunningham

Global Research, April 26, 2011
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24493

The British royal wedding is turning swiftly into a public relations disaster, with news that Bahrain’s Crown Prince is respectfully turning down his invitation to the event because of the “situation reigning” in the Persian Gulf kingdom.

However, the real story behind the headlines is that the diplomatic shuffle reveals that the British establishment is well aware of the vicious repression being conducted by the Bahraini rulers along with the armed forces of neigbouring Gulf states, including Western allies Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa reportedly said that that he did not want his presence to “tarnish” the royal wedding due to take place at Westminster Abbey in London this Friday.

The Bahraini prince was among 40 monarchs from around the world who have been invited by the British establishment to join some 2,000 other guests, including government leaders and celebrities, at the nuptials of Prince William and his long-time fiancé Kate Middleton. William is the son of Britain’s heir to the throne, Prince Charles.

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa


The British royals were in recent days coming under fire in some of the UK press for inviting the Bahraini prince, who is also the deputy supreme commander of the Bahrain Defence Forces.

Despite a lack of coverage in the British and Western mainstream media generally, nonetheless there has been a public outcry in Britain over the brutal crackdown on the pro-democracy movement. More than 30 civilians have been killed in state violence – which escalated on March 16 after Saudi-led forces from the other Gulf countries entered the diminutive island of some 700,000 indigenous population.

Thousands others have been injured from army and police opening fire on peaceful protests. Up to 1,000 people have been unlawfully detained, or “disappeared”, including doctors, nurses, lawyers, human rights workers and bloggers. Four people, including Bahraini journalist Karim Fakhrawi [1], have died while in custody, showing signs of torture. The Shia majority in Bahrain is particularly targeted by the Sunni rulers and their Gulf allies. Hundreds have been sacked from workplaces, accused of being supportive of the anti-government uprising that began on February 14.

While the ongoing violations, including the military take-over of hospitals and unlawful detention of injured patients, have elicited condemnations from the UN Committee on Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders and the US-based Physicians for Human Rights, the British government, along with Washington and other Western governments, has been conspicuously muted.

Bahrain’s former colonial ruler, Britain, and the US government are well aware of the repression. The US Fifth Fleet is based in the strategic Persian Gulf island, which serves as a listening and watching post for Western geopolitical power projection in the region, in particular against Iran. It beggars belief that Western governments are unaware of the repression.  Indeed, it is most likely that these governments have given their approval to the Bahraini and Gulf rulers carrying out the crackdown on the pro-democracy movement and the Shia population generally.

Only days before the Saudi-led forces moved into Bahrain, the Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa received separate personal visits from US secretary of defence Robert Gates and Britain’s top national security advisor Sir Peter Ricketts, the latter reporting directly to British prime minister David Cameron.

Britain and the US are major suppliers of military equipment to Bahrain – including teargas, helicopters and armoured personnel carriers that are being deployed to crush the pro-democracy protests.

Britain has a particularly important role in the repressive policies of the Bahraini regime. When Britain granted nominal independence to the oil-rich shaikhdom in 1971, many of the British state security personnel remained in place. The head of Bahrain’s security between 1968 to 1998 was Colonel Ian Henderson, who is believed to still act as an advisor to the king. Henderson has in the past been the subject of several reports by international human rights groups for his involvement in overseeing torture and repression in Bahrain. [2]

Since the latest crackdown began, the Bahraini rulers and their Gulf allies have sought to legitimize the state of emergency declared on March 14 as a necessary measure to crush a “subversive plot” in the country and the region fomented by Iran. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton has endeavoured to shore up such claims by denouncing “Iranian interference”.

But as the British royal wedding fiasco indicates, Britain (and the US) are acutely aware of the disturbing humanitarian concerns in Bahrain.

Officially, the Bahraini Crown Prince “uninvited” himself. In a statement, he said: “I was hoping that the Kingdom of Bahrain would have a high-profile representation at this glamorous event, thus reflecting the friendship bonding our countries. However, the current situation reigning in Bahrain prevents me from attending.”

The bets are that the British foreign office became alarmed at the growing media controversy in Britain over the planned attendance at the wedding by the Bahraini monarch and advised the latter to uninvite himself.

If the British government really did believe the official justifications for the repression in Bahrain, it would not have made such a move. The Bahraini monarch’s wish not to tarnish the occasion seems to be an off-guarded, inadvertent admission that there are disturbing violations being perpetrated by the regime. And the British government knows full well that it is harbouring a dirty little secret in Bahrain and that more media delving could expose that.

But the British establishment has not limited the damage entirely. Still planning to attend the royal wedding is one of the princes from the House of Saud. Which will bring up more questions about Britain’s connections to the repression in Saudi Arabia against its own pro-democracy movement as well as the latter’s ongoing involvement in Bahrain.

Furthermore, the guest list points to cynical double standards in Britain’s foreign policy. As media analyst Paul Kane points out: “It is so telling, on so many different levels, for example, the contrast between Bahraini rulers, who get invited to the British royal wedding – something that is taken to epitomize and define the gentility and nobility and cultural achievement of the western elites – and Libyan rulers, who get munitions, presumably loaded with depleted uranium, on their heads.”

Finian Cunningham is a journalist and musician. He is Global Research's Middle East Correspondent.

NOTES

[1] http://www.cpj.org/killed/2011/karim-fakhrawi.php

[2] http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=23619
 

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http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24493

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Bahraini forces attack medical centers

Wed Apr 27, 2011 6:10PM


Bahraini doctors protesting against attacks on medical staff and hospitals


Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have attacked a medical center in the eastern town of Sitra, arresting several people, witnesses say.

MORE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177038.html

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.Published on Wednesday, April 27, 2011 by Inter Press Service

McCarthyism in Manama?


by Kanya D'Almeida


WASHINGTON - As the savage crackdown on the majority Shiite opposition movement drags on in Bahrain, King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa's military regime – backed by the hefty armed forces of Sunni- dominated Saudi Arabia – has moved from launching outright assaults on peaceful protestors on the streets of Manama in broad daylight into the murky waters of what experts are calling state terror, featuring all the old tactics of petrifying a population into submission.


 
The funeral of an activist in Bahrain in March 2011. According to the Washington Post, teachers have been dragged away in handcuffs in full view of their students, and those called in for questioning have endured 'Orwellian' experiences in police custody. Physicians for Human Rights documented the arrest of over 30 medical professionals and Amnesty International claimed that as of Apr. 12, the Ministry of Education had dismissed nearly 120 staff members. (AFP)

On top of facing over 1,500 troops from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)'s most formidable army, the Bahraini people appear to be increasingly encountering the far more sinister face of a monarchy desperate to retain power in the oil-rich Gulf state as regimes topple around it. Midnight knocks on doors, unmarked vehicles whisking activists away in the dead of night and relentless suppression of the media are fast pushing Bahrain into an abyss of impunity, critics here say.

"What we are seeing in [Bahrain] today is like what the United States saw in the 1950s under McCarthyism," Dr. Muneera Fakhro, a leader of the left-leaning Wa'ad party, told a gathering of activists, reporters and policy heads at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP) in Washington Tuesday.

Speaking via live teleconference from Bahrain, Fakhro, whose house has been attacked twice since the unrest began, mourned the loss of 30 lives, the nearly 500 Bahrainis behind bars, and the scores of people still missing.

"We need to stop such atrocities with the help of international organisations immediately," she said.

Having dispatched a team of experts to Manama earlier this month, Amnesty International reported last week that Bahrain's spiraling human rights crisis has reached a level of grave severity, and concluded with the imperative that Western governments – who were quick to safeguard the rights of protestors and revolutionary forces elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – act fast to alleviate accusations of political selectivity and, worse, hypocrisy.

Middle class feels the heat

In its April 2011 Regional Economic Outlook for Middle East and Central Asia (MECA) report, the International Monetary Fund Wednesday expressed high hopes that Bahrain's oil- exporting economy could easily expand by 4.9 percent this year.

Presenting the report in Dubai Tuesday, Masood Ahmed, director of the IMF's MECA Department, said that in the long run, the uprisings could "boost the economies in the region by setting a more inclusive growth agenda, improving governance, and providing greater and more equal opportunity for its young and growing population."

However, it is clear to most observers that unless the Bahraini regime bows to the most basic demands of its restive population, there is little possibility of stability or growth, particularly in light of the regime's most recent bout of repression.

Since Al Khalifa's forces stormed and razed the Pearl Roundabout – Bahrain's equivalent of Cairo's now-legendary Tahrir Square – the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, shotguns and sometimes live ammunition to crush opposition has largely waned in favour of arbitrary arrests, mass detentions, widespread blacklisting and broad persecution of anyone believed to be connected with the uprising.

Since the King declared an emergency State of National Safety (SNS) on Mar. 14, just as Saudi Arabia sent its troops across the causeway connecting the two countries, Bahraini civil society has been left exposed to a host of unchecked powers, including a system of special courts designed to try "enemies of the state".

Human rights groups united in their denouncement of such draconian measures have noted a rapidly increased targeting of skilled workers and the middle classes – not only activists or unemployed youth but teachers, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, engineers, academics, editors and journalists have all been hauled in for questioning, detained, or monitored very closely by the regime's security apparatus.

Mohammed Al Maskati, head of the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, stressed Tuesday that the latest development – a spate of dismissals of over a thousand professionals holding high-ranking jobs – was an ill-omened sign that even the middle class would not be spared.

A representative of the General Federation of Bahrain Trade Unions (GFBTU) said last week that of the 1,200 people fired, over 920 of the dismissals were clearly politically driven, though spokespersons for the regime have insisted that the employees in question "weren't following their rightful duties".

According to the Washington Post, teachers have been dragged away in handcuffs in full view of their students, and those called in for questioning have endured 'Orwellian' experiences in police custody. Physicians for Human Rights documented the arrest of over 30 medical professionals and Amnesty International claimed that as of Apr. 12, the Ministry of Education had dismissed nearly 120 staff members.

"I would not compare this to McCarthyism, which was much more about public hounding. I think [what we are seeing in Bahrain] are old fashioned police tactics, which are far worse," Gregory Gause, a professor of political science at the University of Vermont, told IPS.

"Maybe the 'losing one's job for one's political beliefs' is what brings on the McCarthy comparison, but it seems to me to go far beyond that. How many of McCarthy's targets ended up in jail?" asked Gause, author of the recent book "The International Relations of the Persian Gulf".

Meanwhile, workers' rights watchdogs have stepped up their efforts to pressure Western governments to end the prevailing impunity and defend the human rights of Bahraini workers.

Richard Trumka, president of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), wrote last week to Defence Secretary Robert Gates demanding "urgent political intervention&to stop [Bahrain's] descent into dictatorship", adding that Bahraini trade unions were essential for a healthy, pluralistic society.

Directing the spotlight on Bahrain as home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, Trumka insisted that the administration should call on its counterparts to end the "extraordinary repression taking place at the doorstep of one of America's largest military installations."

"Any lesser response to this crisis undermines our moral authority," he concluded


http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2011/04/27-7

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Bahrain issues four death sentences

Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:11AM


Bahrain's military court has sentenced four anti-government protesters to death, in a move to further crush the ongoing revolutionary movement in the small Persian Gulf country

MORE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177116.html

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Bahraini regime uses poison gas: Video


Thu Apr 28, 2011 8:32AM


Newly-released footage shows Saudi-backed Bahraini forces using poison gas against anti-government protesters in the tiny Persian Gulf country.


Similar footage had previously come out of Bahrain showing the brutality of Bahraini and Saudi forces against peaceful anti-government protesters.

Meanwhile, medical staff at a Bahraini hospital said they received a patient suffering from a serious condition caused by poison gas that was reportedly used by Bahraini forces.

MORE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177117.html

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Bahrain denies mass sackings over protests   

Official says "no one has been dismissed for disciplinary reasons" as ILO team visits kingdom to express concerns.


Last Modified: 27 Apr 2011 14:55

Protests have been held abroad in solidarity with the demonstrations in Bahrain [GALLO/GETTY]


The head of Bahrain's civil service has denied that any employees were sacked after the largely Shia pro-democracy protests that the Gulf Arab kingdom crushed last month with military reinforcements from some of its neighbours.

Bahraini opposition groups and rights organisations say hundreds of public employees were dismissed on the grounds that they took part in protests. The government argues it had taken steps only against those who committed crimes during the protests.

"Up to now, no one has been dismissed for disciplinary reasons," state media quoted Ahmad bin Zayed al-Zayed, the head of the civil service, as saying.

He said further that any disciplinary measures for alleged involvement in the uprising would be for strictly defined administrative and criminal offences.

In comments reported late on Tuesday on Bahrain's state news agency, al-Zayed denied "what has been said about the dismissal of a number of employees ... in positions under the umbrella of the civil service".

Bahrain, which hosts the Fifth Fleet of the US navy, has a free trade pact with the US which the AFL-CIO trade union confederation last week urged the US to pull out of in response to violations of human and labour rights by Bahrain.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO), a specialised agency of the UN that deals with labour issues, has sent a team to Bahrain to share its concerns with high-level government officials, a spokesperson told Al Jazeera.

The representatives were due to meet members of the government, trade unionists and employer representatives on Wednesday and Thursday to discuss the dismissals of trade unionists alleged to have participated in recent demonstrations.

They were also expected to raise the issue of judicial actions taken by the government against the General Federation of Bahraini Trade Unions.

Bahraini unionists called strikes in solidarity with the Pearl Roundabout protests in February.

MORE

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/04/2011427134843707918.html



 

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Why Bahrain is Trying Civilians Before a Military Court


By Karen Leigh Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2011 
 

Tents are seen engulfed with fire as Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) forces move into Pearl Square to evacuate anti-government protesters, in Manama March 16, 2011.

BY Hamad I Mohammed / Reuters

Updated: Apr. 28, 2011 at 7:30 a.m. EST

The seven men who went on trial in Bahrain on Thursday have made history as the country's first-ever civilians to be tried before a military court. Facing the death penalty, they've been sequestered in an unknown location for weeks and accused of murdering two policemen by running them over with a car. They've had no communication with family or friends since being taken into custody last month. Human rights activists fear they have been subjected to torture. More worrisome, they have been denied access to legal counsel and face trial proceedings sealed to the public. The Bahrain News Agency said the seven men have pleaded not guilty to all charges against them.

It is the first trial to be publicly announced since the country fell under martial law on March 15, when the Sunni regime (and U.S. ally) began a severe crackdown on the opposition, a campaign that has seen about 500 mostly Shi'a anti-government supporters arrested and held incommunicado. "Putting civilians to military court is a surprise," says Nabeel Rajab, head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. "The government has taken it too far." Rights advocates fear that a conviction in this case may start a wave of death penalties for activists in the island Kingdom, which has rarely imposed such a sentence. The last time Bahrain handed out a death penalty was two years ago. (And according to state media, the military court in Bahrain convicted four Shi'ite protesters and sentenced them to death for the killing of two policemen during anti-government demonstrations last month in the Gulf kingdom. The three other Shi'ite activists, who were also on trial, were sentenced to life in prison for their role in the policemen's deaths.)



Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2067895,00.html#ixzz1Kow1PgnJ

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'US, Britain sheltering Al Khalifa'

VIDEO

Thu Apr 28, 2011 3:13PM

Interview with Saeed al-Shahabi from the Bahrain Freedom Movement in London

The sentencing to death of four Bahraini anti-government protesters in a Manama military court 'is virtually a secret' as the verdicts were 'ready-made,' says an expert.


The rulings were viewed as part of the efforts by the US-backed Bahraini regime to further crush the ongoing revolutionary movement in the tiny Persian Gulf country.

The development comes as the Al-Khalifa rulers rejected reports by a number of human rights organizations on massive rights violations in the country.

Press TV interviewed Saeed al-Shahabi of the Bahrain Freedom Movement in London regarding the progress of the uprising amid the persisting brutal crackdown on protesters by the Saudi-backed Bahraini government forces.

The following is a rush transcription of the interview.

ARTICLE & VIDEO HERE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177173.html

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Saudis protest crackdown on Bahrainis

VIDEO

Fri Apr 29, 2011 5:53AM


People in Saudi Arabia have taken to the streets to protest against the violent Saudi-backed crackdown on Bahraini anti-government protesters.


Demonstrators in the eastern city of Qatif denounced Riyadh for backing Bahraini forces in destruction of mosques and holy sites, Press TV reported on Friday.

ARTICLE & VIDEO

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177260.html

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US, UK taking Bahrain into 'fascism'


Thu Apr 28, 2011 6:36PM

VIDEO


The US, the UK and Israel are behind the death sentence handed to four anti-government protesters in Bahrain, a political expert says.


A Bahraini military court has sentenced four protestors to death over the killing of two policemen during the country's recent anti-government protests.

In an interview with press TV, Chairman of the Committee against Torture in Bahrain Rodney Shakespeare described the court as “a kangaroo trial killing,” saying the four were sentenced to death only for displaying “a little bit of democracy” in Bahrain's recent uprising.

VIDEO & ARTICLE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177208.html

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AI: Bahrain: Death sentences against four protestors should be lifted

BY Amnesty International


EI, April 28, 2011

http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=19429

Authorities in Bahrain must not allow the execution of four protesters sentenced to death by a military court over the killing of two police officers in anti-government demonstrations last month, Amnesty International said today.

Earlier today the court sentenced Ali Abdullah Hassan al-Sankis, Qassim Hassan Matar, Saeed Abduljalil Saeed and Adbulaziz Abdulridha Ibrahim Hussain.

Three other defendants tried with them, Issa Abdullah Kadhim Ali, Sadeq Ali Mahdi and Hussein Jaafar Abdulkarim, were sentenced to life in prison by the same court. All seven accused are reported to have denied the charges. The death sentences can be appealed in Bahrain’s military court. However, should the appeal fail, the final verdict cannot be appealed in Bahrain’s ordinary courts and the four men could then face imminent execution.

Amnesty International Middle East and North Africa Malcolm Smart said:

"Bahrain is in the grip of a deepening human rights crisis and the severity of the sentences imposed today, following a military trial behind closed doors, will do nothing to reverse that.

"King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa must urgently make it clear that he will not allow these death sentences to be carried out.

"The Bahraini authorities have a responsibility to bring to justice those who commit violent crimes. But when doing so, they must uphold the right to fair trial and they must not use the death penalty under any circumstances.

"In this case, the accused were tried before a special military court, although they are civilians. It also appears that the trial was conducted behind closed doors. As well, those sentenced have no right of appeal except to another special military court, raising great fears about the fairness of the entire process."

The seven men were accused of the premeditated murder of two policemen by running them over with a vehicle on 16 March. On 15 March, Bahrain’s King had declared a state of emergency - termed the State of National Safety (SNS) - after Saudi Arabia sent in a thousand troops to help the government quell anti-government protests.

The seven accused are believed to have been held incommunicado following their arrests and the families are said to have been denied access to them, Amnesty has learnt. Government officials reportedly said that a total of four policemen have been killed during protests in March.

King Hamad bin 'Issa Al Khalifa imposed the state of emergency for three months but it may be renewed with the approval of the National Council or parliament. It provided for the establishment of a special military court to try those accused of offences under the emergency and a special military appeal court. Since the SNS was imposed, more than 500 people have been arrested with many of them detained incommunicado and at undisclosed locations. At least four have died in detention in suspicious circumstances since the end of March.

Local media reports say 312 detainees were released today. The government’s Information Affairs Authority has told the media that more than 400 other cases have been referred to the military courts.

Many of the detainees were taken from their homes, often at night, by groups of police and security forces who wore masks, failed to produce arrest warrants and sometimes assaulted those they wished to detain and members of their families.

In 2010, two Bangladeshi nationals were sentenced to death in Bahrain. Jassim Abdulmanan was executed in June and Russell Mezan was sentenced to death in March. His death sentence was upheld in October. Only foreign nationals have been sentenced to death and executed in Bahrain in recent years.

Executions carried out in Bahrain are normally by firing squad.


http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=19429

 

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Demos condemn Saudi intervention

Sat Apr 30, 2011 2:23AM

Scores of Bahraini protesters have been killed and injured in attacks by Saudi-backed forces.

Crowds across the world have taken to the streets to condemn the brutal crackdown on the people of Bahrain by local forces backed by Saudi troops.


In Egypt, dozens of people gathered outside a government office in Cairo to denounce the Al Saud ruling family and their military intervention in Bahrain.

Hundreds of people, including university students, gathered outside the Saudi Arabian Embassy in New Delhi. They expressed solidarity with the uprising, criticized the brutal invasion by Saudi troops, and demanded that the Saudi troops stop assaulting the Bahrainis.

“We hail the people's upsurge against US-Saudi puppet dictatorships in Bahrain. We condemn such type of regimes,” said one of the protesters.

Protests were also held in the Indian cities of Amroha, Nogawan, Lucknow, and Mumbai.

In Britain, dozens of activists gathered in front of Buckingham Palace in support of the revolution in Bahrain. The protesters chanted slogans against the ruling families of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia and demanded an end to what they called the Saudi occupation of Bahrain.


MORE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177405.html

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Bahrain deploys tanks in Diraz

Fri Apr 29, 2011 1:44PM

Bahraini protesters are calling for an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa dynasty.

Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have deployed tanks and armored vehicles in Diraz, shortly after attacking a peaceful protest march in the western village of Karzakan.


Witnesses say regime forces fired live bullets and tear gas at anti-government protesters and that army helicopters have been flying over protesters in Karzakan on Friday. There were no immediate reports of casualties or arrests.

Also on Friday, the regime forces besieged the northwestern village of Diraz with tanks and heavy military vehicles.

Meanwhile, pro-regime thugs backed by police stormed Dair village.

Despite a martial law and the brutal crackdown on anti-government protests, hundreds of protesters took to the streets in several Bahraini cities following the Friday Prayers, demanding an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa dynasty.

MORE

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177342.html

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'US has nothing to say about Bahrain'

Mon May 2, 2011 12:29PM

Bahrain is home to the US Fifth Fleet.

The United States has “nothing to say” about the Bahraini government's brutal crackdown against peaceful protesters, an article in Austria's largest newspaper says.


The article, published on April 29 in the Kronen Zeitung daily, denounced Washington's policy about the situation in the Persian Gulf kingdom

MORE

http://presstv.com/detail/177847.html

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Bahrain Arrests Opposition Leaders After Public Criticism

Former MP's al-Jazeera Interview Followed by Quick Arrest

by Jason Ditz, May 02, 2011

Following an interview on al-Jazeera TV in which he blasted the regime, opposition MP Mattar Ibrahim Mattar was arrested by the Bahraini government today, along with MP Jawad Ferooz, the Vice President of the Wefaq Party.

MORE

http://news.antiwar.com/2011/05/02/bahrain-arrests-opposition-leaders-after-public-criticism/

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Bahraini forces wage more sacrilege

Wed May 4, 2011 12:6PM

Saudi-backed forces reportedly continue their efforts to destroy Muslim holy sites in Bahrain, intensifying their crackdown on the popular revolution in the Persian Gulf state.


Eyewitnesses say the forces razed another prayer hall to the ground on Wednesday.

MORE

http://presstv.com/detail/178190.html

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Al Khalifa buoyed by US support of brutality


Interview with Saeed al-Shahabi, Bahraini opposition leader, London.

Wed May 4, 2011 12:15PM


The US and UK are more than just remaining media silent on the crimes of humanity committed in Bahrain, they help encourage brutality.

Press TV interviews Saeed al-Shahabi, a Bahraini opposition leader in London who discusses recent events as an extension of the impunity the al-Khalifa regime feels it has because of the US and British direct support. Following is a transcript of the interview.


VIDEO AND TRANSCRIPT HERE

http://presstv.com/detail/178191.html

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'Bahraini women sexually assaulted'

Fri May 6, 2011 5:41AM


Saudi-backed forces in Bahrain have sexually assaulted women during attacks to arrest human rights activists in the country, a new report reveals.


A Bahraini woman identified as Fatima, a close relative of prominent Bahraini rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, said she was sexually assaulted by Saudi-backed forces in her house, Press TV reported.

The regime forces assaulted Fatima after storming into her house to arrest her husband, she said in an interview accompanied by rights activist Zainab al-Khawaja.

VIDEO & ARTICLE HERE

http://presstv.com/detail/178494.html

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'Bahrain sets activist's home on fire'

Sat May 7, 2011 10:4AM

BCHR says Bahraini forces have burned Saeed Ayyad's house.

Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) says Saudi-backed forces have attacked the residence of a human rights activist and set it ablaze amid a strict martial law in the tiny Persian Gulf monarchy.


Video footage has surfaced online showing flames coming from the burning house of Saeed Ayyad after Bahraini forces attacked his home on Friday, using “teargas which carried flames.”

According to the BCHR, Ayyad is an activist that has been taking international visitors around to talk to witnesses and victims and document human rights violations in Bahrain.

The group said it had reasons to believe that his house was targeted due to his activities.

Meanwhile, BCHR has warned of further tortures and persecutions by the Manama regime amid tight security conditions imposed by the ruling Al Khalifa family to choke the protests in the small island nation.


MORE

http://presstv.com/detail/178681.html

[bigron]

Bahrain state oil firm sacks hundreds

Wed May 11, 2011 10:47AM

Bahrain's oil company has fired almost hundreds of its employees in recent weeks for taking part in anti-government protests.

Bahrain's major oil company has fired hundreds of its employees in recent weeks for taking part in the ongoing anti-government protests in the Middle Eastern country.

MORE

http://presstv.com/detail/179353.html

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Bahrain, a kingdom of ominous silence

 
May 10, 2011 01:12 AM (Last updated: May 10, 2011 01:12 AM)
By Toby C. Jones
The Daily Star

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2011/May-10/Bahrain-a-kingdom-of-ominous-silence.ashx#axzz1M3QlgoX1
 

An eerie silence and a paralyzing sense of fear currently grip Bahrain. Since mid-March, when tens of thousands of protesters last took to the streets demanding political reform, Bahraini security and military forces have engaged in an ongoing, systematic and brutal campaign to crush the country’s pro-democracy forces. The crackdown has been sweeping and shocking. Dozens of activists have been killed. Hundreds have been imprisoned and tortured. Bahrain’s leading independent newspaper, Al-Wasat, is expected to close down on May 10.

Provocative government actions belie claims that all the monarchy seeks is to re-establish law and order. It is apparent, instead, that the government is using martial law to carry out a vendetta against those who challenged the authority of the ruling Al-Khalifa family. Checkpoints have been set up to harass the country’s Shiite citizens, who make up the majority of Bahrain’s native population and of its political opposition. Security forces have laid siege to the island’s hospitals and arrested scores of medical personnel, in what appears to be an especially inhumane and spiteful kind of intimidation. For weeks police and pro-regime supporters roamed the streets of Shiite villages destroying cars and other property. Those who supported the protests now fear leaving their homes, lest they be publicly accosted or, worse, arrested and disappeared.

The regime is also taking dramatic steps to quiet critics. Authorities have targeted newspapers, journalists and bloggers in order to stymie public criticism, to control reporting about the scale of the crackdown, and to frighten into silence those who might speak out. In recent weeks, normally vibrant Bahraini blogs and twitter feeds have gone quiet, stunned into submission by the brutality of what is happening around them.

And they have reason to fear. Those who have spoken out or who have attempted to report events going on around them are paying a high price.

In early April government officials took aim at Bahrain’s largest independent newspaper, Al-Wasat, and accused it of “deliberate news fabrication and falsification.” Al-Wasat’s editor Mansoor al-Jamri resigned in an effort to deflect criticism from the newspaper. Instead, Jamri and two of his staff members will likely face a politically motivated trial. Jamri was replaced with the pro-government Obaidly al-Obaidly. On April 5 authorities arrested Karim Fakhrawi, one of the newspaper’s founders and a member of the opposition political society Al-Wefaq. On April 12 Fakhrawi died mysteriously while in police custody. On April 22 police extended their assault on Al-Wasat by beating and arresting the columnist Haidar Mohammad al-Naimi, whose fate remains unknown. In light of these pressures, members of Al-Wasat’s board of directors and the paper’s investors have reportedly decided to cease publication as of today.

Those associated with opposition political groups have been hit the hardest, but they are not the only ones to have felt the brunt of the regime’s assault on speech. Two of Bahrain’s most prominent bloggers, Mahmood al-Youssef and Mohammad al-Maskati, were arrested in early April for bearing witness to developments in the country. Although both have been critical of the violence deployed by state security, neither belongs to the country’s opposition. For weeks they routinely appealed for calm and encouraged the government and protesters to avoid provocation and escalation. Their detentions sent a clear signal that the regime’s tolerance for being off message was very low.

In addition to serving as a form of punishment, the regime’s crackdown on public and social media reflects its struggle to control the narrative. Alongside the silencing of critical voices, authorities have also mobilized state-controlled media to assert their dominance and offer an alternative view of the country’s domestic conflict. Bahrain’s national TV station led the way in detailing the public case against Al-Wasat on April 2 when it broadcast a program outlining charges that the paper had published fake news. The station has launched similar campaigns against prominent activists as well, including the human rights advocate Nabeel Rajab.

Bahrain TV’s most important role has been to frame the country’s domestic struggle not as a contest of democracy versus autocracy, but as a sectarian clash. The state media has used the specters of Iranian meddling and the potential empowerment of the country’s Shiite population to frighten the smaller Sunni community into supporting the political status quo and the crackdown.

Bahraini state media have also, however, served to expose the regime’s extreme tactics. On April 28 authorities revealed that four activists had been sentenced to death and three others to life imprisonment for their alleged roles in the deaths of two Bahraini policemen. The seven men were tried in closed military courts. Sensitive to claims that the government had not given the men a fair trial, Bahraini officials released a video of the men allegedly confessing to the murders.

More damning than the purported confessions, which were likely extracted under pressure, was the appearance of an eighth man, Ali Isa Saqer, on the video. Saqer died in police custody on April 9. After announcing his death, authorities claimed that he had created “chaos in the detention center.” An unruly prisoner or not, the images of Saqer’s body showed signs of devastating physical abuse. Whether Saqer’s presence on the video was intended or not, the message of his treatment was unmistakable. And it is the same message that the regime has been sending through its abuse of the media.

The regime has few powerful challengers when it comes to the media. The domestic independent media has been cowed. The regional media, most notably the two main regional satellite stations, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, have kept their distance from Bahrain, apparently due to Qatari and Saudi support for the crackdown. Although the Bahraini government has allowed a handful of Western journalists into the country, many others have been forbidden entry. And journalists who maintain contacts with Bahrainis report that they are increasingly unwilling to go public with their stories, fearing retribution.

Despite Bahraini rulers’ claims that the uprising was an Iranian plot to destabilize the kingdom, it is clear that they are solely concerned with protecting themselves and punishing their rivals – and that they will use any means necessary to accomplish both. For the present, Bahraini citizens are left to with little to do other than ponder their fate and do so in silence. The current quiet is misleading, however: the conflict between a monarchy determined to preserve authoritarian rule and a majority population keen to secure a voice for itself is far from over.

Toby C. Jones is an assistant professor of Middle East history at Rutgers University. He is the author of “Desert Kingdom: How Oil and Water Forged Modern Saudi Arabia” (Harvard, 2010) and is an editor at Middle East Report. This commentary is reprinted with permission from the Arab Reform Bulletin. It can be accessed online at: www.carnegieendowment.org/arb, © 2011, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
 
 


Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2011/May-10/Bahrain-a-kingdom-of-ominous-silence.ashx#ixzz1M3R8dRc9
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

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Reuters says its reporter expelled from Bahrain


Associated Press May 10, 2011 12:12 PM .0 .(05-10) 12:12 PDT



LONDON, United Kingdom (AP) --

Reuters' Bahrain correspondent has been expelled from the country amid an ongoing crackdown on media in the Gulf kingdom, the news agency said Tuesday.

Frederik Richter, who had been based in Manama, Bahrain's capital, since 2008, was told to leave days after officials complained about Reuters' reporting, according to a story posted to its website.

In a statement, Reuters' editor-in-chief Stephen Adler said the organization regretted the decision and stands by Richters' reporting.

"We will continue to provide comprehensive and unbiased coverage from the country," Adler said



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