Secret Desert Force Set Up by Blackwater’s Founder Adam Ferguson/VII Network
Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, has a new project. By MARK MAZZETTI and EMILY B. HAGER
Published: May 14, 2011

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Late one night last November, a plane carrying dozens of Colombian men touched down in this glittering seaside capital. Whisked through customs by an Emirati intelligence officer, the group boarded an unmarked bus and drove roughly 20 miles to a windswept military complex in the desert sand.

Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan of Abu Dhabi hired Erik Prince to build a fighting force.

The Colombians had entered the United Arab Emirates posing as construction workers. In fact, they were soldiers for a secret American-led mercenary army being built by Erik Prince, the billionaire founder of Blackwater Worldwide, with $529 million from the oil-soaked sheikdom.

Mr. Prince, who resettled here last year after his security business faced mounting legal problems in the United States, was hired by the crown prince of Abu Dhabi to put together an 800-member battalion of foreign troops for the U.A.E., according to former employees on the project, American officials and corporate documents obtained by The New York Times.

The force is intended to conduct special operations missions inside and outside the country, defend oil pipelines and skyscrapers from terrorist attacks and put down internal revolts, the documents show. Such troops could be deployed if the Emirates faced unrest in their crowded labor camps or were challenged by pro-democracy protests like those sweeping the Arab world this year.

The U.A.E.’s rulers, viewing their own military as inadequate, also hope that the troops could blunt the regional aggression of Iran, the country’s biggest foe, the former employees said. The training camp, located on a sprawling Emirati base called Zayed Military City, is hidden behind concrete walls laced with barbed wire. Photographs show rows of identical yellow temporary buildings, used for barracks and mess halls, and a motor pool, which houses Humvees and fuel trucks. The Colombians, along with South African and other foreign troops, are trained by retired American soldiers and veterans of the German and British special operations units and the French Foreign Legion, according to the former employees and American officials.

In outsourcing critical parts of their defense to mercenaries — the soldiers of choice for medieval kings, Italian Renaissance dukes and African dictators — the Emiratis have begun a new era in the boom in wartime contracting that began after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. And by relying on a force largely created by Americans, they have introduced a volatile element in an already combustible region where the United States is widely viewed with suspicion.

The United Arab Emirates — an autocracy with the sheen of a progressive, modern state — are closely allied with the United States, and American officials indicated that the battalion program had some support in Washington. …more

Updates: Trials held on 16 May , 2011 , sentencing of 7 demonstrators
May 17th, 2011

Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) is deeply concerned about sentencing of 7 demonstrators yesterday in National Safety court ( Emergency law court) .

On 16 May 2011 , 7 demonstrators sentenced :

1-Majad Ali Mohamed (1 years imprisonment)
2-Ibrahim Salman Abdullah (1 years imprisonment)
3-Mohammed Mullah Ahmed (2 years imprisonment)
4-Hassan Mansour Hussein (2 years imprisonment)
5-Hussein Ali Ahmed (3 years imprisonment)
6- Jafar Mohammed Ibrahim (3 years imprisonment)
7-Haitham Shobar Sharaf (2 years imprisonment)

Charges: participating in illegal demonstrations and rallies, Riots, The obtaining of publications and Inciting publicly towards the hatred of the governing.

More information:

On 12 May 2011 , 12 demonstrators sentenced: http://byshr.org/?p=461

Bahrain: First nurse is sentenced since 14 Feb unrest : http://byshr.org/?p=458

Updates: Trials held today 12 May , 2011 : http://byshr.org/?p=455

BYSHR: Harsh sentencing of 9 demonstrators since National Safety law (Emergency law) started : http://byshr.org/?p=442
source…

Bahrain: The first woman imprisoned 4 years because participated in the protests
May 18th, 2011

Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) is deeply concerned about sentence of the first woman participated in the protests.

On 17 May 2011:

1- Mohammed Qassim Ghalloum was accused of taking part in illegal assemblies in public areas, committing a number of crimes and disrupting public security in front of Al Safriya Palace “king’s Palace” and the GCC Roundabout “Pearl Roundabout” ( 2 years imprisonment and will be deported as soon as his sentence is over, because according to authorities, he is Iranian)

2-charged Hussein Ali Ibrahim with taking part in illegal assemblies for criminal ends, disrupting public security and rioting ( 4 years imprisonment)

3- Isa Hassan Habib, he was found guilty of participating in illegal assemblies for criminal ends, disrupting public security and rioting (2 years imprisonment )

4- Fadhila Mubarak Ahmed (Ms.) , who was convicted over charges of offending a public official, calling openly for the hatred of the ruling system and taking part in illegal protests at the GCC Roundabout “Pearl Roundabout” ( 4 years imprisonment)

5-Mohammed Ali Al Safwan found guilty of protesting in public places, disrupting public security and holding political leaflets calling for overthrowing the ruling system forcibly (2 years imprisonment )

6-Ibrahim Isa Ali, he was acquitted him of the charges of taking part in protests and disrupting public security, but he will spend a year in prison over holding anti-ruling system political leaflets.

7-Mahmoud Ahmed Ali who faced three charges –taking part in illegal assemblies, holding Molotov cocktails and openly inciting crimes, the court acquitted him of the third, but sentenced him to three years in prison for finding him guilty of the first and the second.

8-Mahdi Abdulla Ahmed received a three-year prison sentence over charges of participating in illegal protests, disrupting in public order and inciting crimes. …source

BAHRAIN: Report alleges torture, calls for Obama, U.S. leaders to help
May 17, 2011 | 3:12 pm

More than 800 people have been arrested in the Persian Gulf kingdom of Bahrain since mid-February. Most of the detainees have been Shiite Muslims who protested against the Sunni monarchy of King Hamed ibn Isa Khalifa.

According to a report Tuesday by New York based nonprofit Human Rights First, most of those detained since anti-government demonstrations began in Bahrain have been arrested without warrants and held at unknown locations, without access to lawyers or relatives.

Timeline: Repression in Bahrain

Those who have been released from detention, or family members who witnessed their arrest, told Human Rights First staffer Brian Dooley about how they or their relatives were snatched late at night by teams of masked men who ransacked their homes and robbed them. Released detainees said they were blindfolded for days, handcuffed and beaten, forced to sing the Bahraini national anthem or to chant pro-government slogans. Several said they had been forced to sign something they were not permitted to see.

Doctors and other healthcare providers have been particularly targeted by security forces, with dozens detained, human rights activists say, in part because medicine is a common career for Bahraini Shiites.

One female physician, who asked not to be named, was among those who spoke to Human Rights First, detailing her experience in detention:

“I was taken from the hospital where I was working during the middle of the day. Four masked men came and took me for an interrogation. They blindfolded me and took me to the investigations office. They were verbally abusing me, saying the doctors at the hospital were sectarian, only treating Shiite patients.
“Then they moved me to another room. I was blindfolded the whole time and a policewoman pushed me along the corridor for more questioning. They wanted me to say that doctors took injured people for operations unnecessarily, they had very minor injuries but doctors made these injuries worse and caused death on purpose in two cases. They said we wanted to make Bahrain look bad, to hurt its international reputation. I said no, patients were really bleeding badly, some from live ammunition wounds, and we didn’t make their wounds worse.

“The policewoman started to beat me and she said, ‘You have to go to the boss; they know how to get a confession out of you.’ They took me to another office. I was standing the whole time, about three hours. It was so terrifying, I was hoping I’d die. You don’t know how long it will continue, what they will do next. You’re blindfolded the whole time; they repeat the same questions over and over and if they don’t get the answer they want they beat you. …more

Witness: Expelled from Bahrain, a nation now in fear
By Frederik Richter
MANAMA | Tue May 17, 2011 10:09am EDT

MANAMA (Reuters) – When I got the usual call to visit Bahrain’s Information Ministry, I braced myself for complaints about my coverage of the crackdown on Bahraini Shi’ites protesting against the kingdom’s Sunni-led government.

Every other week it seemed, since I moved to the island, I have been called in for meetings with government officials over Reuters coverage of what Bahrain’s Shi’ite majority says is discrimination by the Sunni rulers. Once, I got an angry call in the middle of the night. This time, though, the mood was calm and somewhat friendly when I went to the ministry last Tuesday. The official, in a traditional white robe, sat down with me in a modern office with a large TV screen to monitor media coverage.

Then came the announcement I had not expected. “You have to stop reporting from now,” he said. “You have to leave the country within one week.” The official, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nezar al-Khalifa, added that Reuters had lacked balance in its reporting during the crackdown on pro-democracy protesters. The meeting lasted no more than five minutes. A story published earlier this month on disputes between moderates and hardliners within the royal family had, it seemed, crossed a red line.

The authorities said Bahrain was not closing down the Reuters office in Manama and would accredit another foreign correspondent nominated by the agency.

LEAVING

As I prepare to leave, I can barely recognize Bahrain as the country I came to in 2008. It has been transformed by fear. When I arrived, the tiny island, linked to Saudi Arabia by a causeway, was a thriving business and financial center. Its hotels bustled with bankers and executives flown in to discuss investment deals. Few gave much thought to discontent rumbling beneath the surface or any inkling that it would later spark mass popular protests in central Manama. Tens of thousands of people from around the world have converged on the island each year to watch the Formula One Bahrain Grand Prix, inaugurated in 2004.

Bahrain’s parliament, in which the country’s main Shi’ite opposition group Wefaq held 18 out of 40 seats, had very limited powers. Despite that, it gave the opposition voice of the Shi’ite majority a platform for debates and corruption probes. Activists spoke freely about complaints of discrimination in jobs and services in favor of Sunni Muslims, whose faith was aligned with the ruling family, and with Saudi Arabia. Bahrainis talked to me. But in February, crowds mainly comprised of Shi’ites took to the streets. It would become weeks of protests demanding more freedom, an end to sectarian discrimination and a constitutional monarchy. Some even called for the abolition of the monarchy.

The protests were inspired by revolts that had toppled rulers of Egypt and Tunisia. Manama declared emergency law in March, accused Shi’ite Iran of fomenting unrest and invited in troops from Sunni Arab neighbors, notably from Saudi Arabia. What followed was a sweeping crackdown on Shi’ite villages, opposition activists, media and health workers. The government said it targeted only those who broke the law during protests. But state television enlarged the faces of many who took part in protests — singling them out and frightening off others.

FEAR

At least 29 people, all but six of them Shi’ites, have been killed since the protests started in February. The non-Shi’ites killed included two foreigners and four policemen. …more

Bahrain accepts resignation of opposition MPs
Resignations over crackdown leave lower house with just 22 members as more accusations of torture are leveled.
Last Modified: 17 May 2011 15:01

Bahrian’s parliament has accepted the resignations of the last seven lawmakers of Al Wefaq, the country’s largest Shia opposition party.

The resignations, approved on Tuesday, were submitted in February in protest over the government’s brutal crackdown on anti-government demonstrations. The lawmakers acted alongside 11 other Shia opposition members of parliament whose resignations were previously accepted. Bahrain’s 40 member lower house of parliament is now left with 22 lawmakers and is controlled by Sunnis.
The lower house was created in 2002 under a new constitution aimed at easing Shia complaints of perceived second-class status.

There is also an upper house of parliament whose 40 members are appointed by the king. Shias make up about 70 percent of the population in the kingdom ruled by a 200-year-old Sunni dynasty, but are largely excluded from top government and security posts. Shias were the driving force behind protests calling for political reforms that began in February. Bahraini authorities have been seeking to prosecute opposition leaders and other protesters perceived to be linked to clashes and protests in the Gulf Arab nation.

‘Threatened with rape’

A special security court set up under martial law is trying 21 mostly Shia opposition leaders and political activists accused of plotting against the state. One of those 21 – a prominent Bahraini human rights activist – has said he had been threatened with rape while in custody after he refused to apologise to the Bahraini over his role in anti-government protests.

Human rights groups said Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, former president of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), was removed from a military court on Monday on the third day of his trial after he told the judge about his treatment. The rights groups said Khawaja told family members and his lawyer that he had been taken on Friday by four men to an unknown location where a man there told him he was a representative of the king and began to question him. They asked him if he would like to apologise in a video message and he refused, then he was taken to a room where the men “started to use foul language and threatened him with rape”, the rights groups said, adding they also threatened to rape his activist daughter. …more

Top U.S. diplomat presses Bahrain on rights

WASHINGTON | Tue May 17, 2011 10:55am EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A senior U.S. diplomat urged Bahrain’s rulers on Tuesday to pursue political dialogue with the opposition and stressed “the importance of full respect for universal human rights,” the State Department said. Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, the No. 2 official at the State Department, held talks in Bahrain along with Jeffrey Feltman, the department’s top Middle East official, and a senior official from the U.S. National Security Council.

“Deputy Secretary Steinberg affirmed the long-standing commitment of the U.S. to a strong partnership with both the people and the government of Bahrain and stressed the importance of full respect for universal human rights,” the State Department said. “He urged all parties to pursue a path of reconciliation and comprehensive political dialogue.”

The United States and other Western countries have been accused by rights activists of reacting too softly to the crackdown in Bahrain, which hosts an important U.S. naval base and is seen as a crucial U.S. ally facing Iran. At least 13 protesters and four police officers died during unrest that gripped the island kingdom in February and March until Bahrain declared martial law and invited in troops from Sunni neighbors to quash anti-government demonstrations. The government has since cracked down on Shi’ite villages and opposition activists, arresting hundreds, and fired hundreds of workers from state-owned companies. At least three people have died in custody.

The government says it has targeted only those who committed crimes during the unrest. …source

“Hope you are well. I don’t know if you heard, but my father was beaten until he was unconscious then arrested with two of my brothers in law. We still don’t know where any of them are.”

The Pearl’s Pillars
by Maryam Al-Khawaja

Five arms stretched from the ground
Each palm embraced the pure limp bodies in shrouds

Their reflection was a wide glow in the dark night

Shining down on the peaceful crowds
Five arms stretched from the ground
Each palm held a cry of “Allahu Akbar”
Held a revolutionary song
Held a poem of defiance
Held a scream for freedom

Five arms stretched from the ground
Palms covered with a grave of flowers
Fingertips pointing towards the heavens
A mother’s tears celebrating a wedding’s last hours

Five arms came down with vengeance
But heroes stood their ground
Flowers in hand
Bullets were the only answer they found

She stood there
Flag held high
The red splattered blood on the earth
As the remaining white screamed “I am peaceful!”

Five arms stood no more
Like the fresh buds of spring
Arms emerged from every futile earth
Rising above lands
Diseased with money and power

The red seeped through the earth
With the cries of the martyrs’ children
The ground shook
And the throne broke
King came down on his knees
In the air echoed the crown prince’s pleas

“I promise you words
Words worth your blood
Come now, don’t delay
Come to dialogue I say
Hand in hand
Pull me out from the quicksand
And in this dark hour
Help me stay in power”

The young voice drowned his pleas
Thus into hiding he fleas
“Accountability, accountability,
You have lost your credibility
When your army shot our sons
Using U.S. made guns”

So the tribe caught her
and beat her with knives and swords
Then showered her with stones
As they cried to the world
“Stone her she is sectarian
She eats at Lebanese restaurants
And owns Iranian rugs
Our unarmed tanks she hunts
No we swear those are not our thugs”
And foreign hands played the melody to their cries
As they spread propaganda and lies

Plays of deceit
Created by their playwrights
“You are Shiaa
Every year
We discover and foil your plan
Of overthrowing our clan
In the restaurant you were trained
And the rug in conspiracy we framed
Close down the restaurant
The rugs tear to bits
Quickly quickly
Before they discover our fibs”

Slowly but surely
From beneath the rubble
A fist emerged
“Do what you will
My voice you cannot kill
My land I will never betray
And from the path of righteousness I will not stray
I stand against every foreign intervention
While you invite them to kill and put my people in detention
My determination will not heed
Nor will your plays succeed
For I am not Shiaa
Nor am I Sunni

I am forever only Bahraini!