Proposed Saudi Arabia “Anti-Terror” Law Would Crush Peaceful Dissent and Protest, Says Amnesty International
Human Rights Organization Obtained Copies of Top Secret Draft Law

This link takes you to the draft law (in Arabic): draft law
Contact: Suzanne Trimel, 212-633-4150, strimel@aiusa.org

Human Rights Watch English Summation HERE

(New York) – Amnesty International has obtained copies of a secret draft Saudi Arabian anti-terrorism law that would allow the authorities to prosecute peaceful dissent with harsh penalties as “terrorist crime.” Under the draft law, the definition of terrorist crimes is so broad that legitimate dissent would, in effect, be criminalized.

The organization obtained copies of the “Draft Penal Law for Terrorism Crimes and Financing of Terrorism,” which would also allow extended detention without charge or trial. Questioning the integrity of the King or the Crown Prince would carry a minimum prison sentence of 10 years.

The leak of the draft comes as ongoing peaceful protests across the Middle East and North Africa are being met with government repression.

“This draft law poses a serious threat to freedom of expression in the Kingdom in the name of preventing terrorism,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s deputy director, Middle East and North Africa program. “If passed it would pave the way for even the smallest acts of peaceful dissent to be branded terrorism and risk massive human rights violations.”

“At a time when people throughout the Middle East and North Africa have been exercising their legitimate right to express dissent and call for change, Saudi Arabian authorities have been seeking to squash this right for its citizens,” said Luther.

A Saudi Arabian government security committee reviewed the draft law in June but it is not known when or if it might be adopted.

The definition of “terrorist crimes” in the draft is so broad that it lends itself to wide interpretation and abuse, and would in effect criminalize legitimate dissent.

Under the draft law, terrorist crimes would include such actions as “endangering…national unity”, “halting the basic law or some of its articles”, or “harming the reputation of the state or its position”.

Violations of the law would carry harsh punishments. The death penalty would be applied to cases of taking up arms against the state or for any “terrorist crimes” that result in death.

A number of other key provisions in the draft law run counter to Saudi Arabia’s international legal obligations, including those under the United Nation Convention against Torture.

The draft law allows for suspects to be held in incommunicado detention for up to 120 days, or for longer periods – potentially indefinitely – if authorized by a specialized court.

Incommunicado detention facilitates torture or other ill-treatment and prolonged detention of that nature can itself amount to torture.

Detainees in incommunicado detention are also, by definition, denied access to a lawyer during their investigation.

The draft law allows for arbitrary detention: it denies detainees the right to be promptly brought before a judge, and to be released or tried within a reasonable time. It gives the specialized court the power to detain without charge or trial for up to a year, and to extend such detention indefinitely. Detainees are not given a means to challenge the lawfulness of their detention in front of a court.

It also fails to include a clear prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment.

The draft law gives wide-ranging powers to the Minister of the Interior “to take the necessary actions to protect internal security from any terrorist threat.” It does not allow for judicial authorization or oversight of these actions.

Amnesty International is a Nobel Peace Prize-winning grassroots activist organization with 3 million supporters, activists and volunteers in more than 150 countries campaigning for human rights worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth and dignity are denied. …more

As Ramadan Begins, Arab Militaries Strike Back
Posted by: Geoffrey Mock, August 1, 2011 at 3:43 PM

“While they were hitting me I told them I’m pregnant, they shouted: who’s the father, then hit my stomach with his stick”
– Egyptian woman in Tahrir Square Aug. 1.

This was a weekend Arab armies struck back. In Syria, tanks attacked protesters in Hama, killing at least 100 according to Amnesty International reports. The military was back in action Monday as well.

In Egypt, reports are coming in from Egypt that the military is clearing out activists from Tahrir Square after more than a week of protests calling for a faster pace of reform. All morning reports from Tahrir Square painted a picture of mobs of people picking out protesters, surrounding them, provoking scuffles and then turning the activists over to soldiers nearby.

Unlike in Syria, the violence doesn’t appear to involve shooting, and no deaths have been reported, but there have been reportedly large number of arrests and social media was reporting eyewitness accounts of several injuries.

“Army took someone’s phone and smashed it. ‘by what law are you taking my phone?’ she asked. ‘by my law’ he screamed,” tweeted one Egyptian woman.

All this occurred on the first day of Ramadan, Islam’s holiest month. And it is extremely depressing.

The “But” here may not seem promising, but it’s worth noting: Nothing that occurred this weekend (including strange news about divisions among Libyan rebels) should undermine hope about the direction of the uprisings throughout the Arab and Middle East world. Progress was never going to be linear or quick, and the overreaching arc of the movement still leans toward justice. The fact that thousands are still bravely putting their lives on the lines in the streets of Egypt and Syria point to the fact that the people are not going home anytime soon.

Which means they need our support. Two new Amnesty International actions are meant to show solidarity with the activists as well as take creative steps toward helping real change.

In Syria, an Amnesty International online petition drive is pressing the rising powers of Brazil, India and South Africa to show they will use their new international influence for human rights by pressing the UN Security Council to take action against the violence of the Assad regime. You can add your voice here.

In Egypt, a new action focuses on the key role Egyptian women played in the uprising and concerns that they are now being marginalized. The action calls for specific and concrete steps to ensure women’s full political participation and their guarantees for their economic, social and political rights. You can take the action here. …more

German Party Sues Government on Saudi Tank Deal
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE – Published: 1 Aug 2011 08:02

BERLIN – Germany’s opposition Green party is taking the government to court over a reported secret deal to sell hundreds of tanks to Saudi Arabia, a party spokeswoman said Aug. 1.

“A suit brought by the members of parliament Christian Stroebele, Claudia Roth and Katja Keul was filed on Friday” with the Constitutional Court, the spokeswoman added.

The Greens, who oppose the reported deal, have asked the court to rule on whether the government is entitled to grant an export license for the tanks without informing parliament.

Press reports recently suggested that Saudi Arabia would be buying 200 Leopard-2s, Germany’s main battle tank, which is also produced under license in Spain, for a multibillion-euro sum.

Chancellor Angela Merkel and her government have refused to comment on the reports, saying such matters are confidential and decided by the federal security council, a panel that rules on arms exports and is chaired by the chancellor.

“Deliberation and decisions by the federal security council are secret for good reason,” Merkel has told the press.

For decades, Germany has declined to sell such heavy weapons to Saudi Arabia because of concerns over human rights and fears for Israel’s security.

Opposition politicians and even some members of Merkel’s ruling center-right coalition have slammed the reported tank sale, particularly in light of pro-democracy uprisings throughout the Middle East. …source

A Saudi beacon for Iraq’s Sunni militias
27 Juyl, 2011 – By Brian M Downing – Asia Times

Iraq is less violent and more stable than it was at the height of the insurgency, but it is still plagued by bombings and sectarian tensions. In recent weeks, Shi’ite militias have been attacking United States troops – perhaps on the direction of Iran, perhaps simply to take claim for their departure scheduled for the end of this year.

Sunni forces have been at work as well, targeting Shi’ite marketplaces and security personnel. Sunni militancy is no longer the diffuse anti-US insurgency it was after the fall of Baghdad, nor is it held in check any longer by benefits that the US surge once bestowed upon it.

Over the past year or two, the Sunni resistance has demonstrated considerable discipline and control in attacking Shi’ite targets and, most remarkably and puzzlingly, in not attacking US personnel. For an answer to this puzzle one might look next door to Saudi Arabia.

The Sunni insurgency, 2003-2007
In the four years between the fall of Baghdad and the success of the surge, various groups fought the Western forces. The Shi’ite militias were led by a handful of indigenous leaders and supported by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

Leadership in the Sunni movement, however, was less concentrated. It was based on a confused array of former army officers, tribal chieftains, Ba’ath party figures, religious authorities, local power holders, and al-Qaeda lieutenants.

The rank and file came from former soldiers angered by the US’s demobilization of the army, Salafist faithful who opposed the Western presence, foreign fighters from across the Middle East, and tribal youth seeking pay and adventure when elders lost the revenue and patronage system that Saddam Hussein had given them. All found a cause and steady pay.

Most fighters were undisciplined, and the insurgency showed it. Attacks demonstrated little knowledge of small-unit tactics and US troops often described Sunni fighters as no more than armed gangs. Coordination among rival Sunni groups was limited to sharing bomb-making skills and some supplies, though some tactical coordination emerged.

The Sunni insurgency was funded by Ba’ath party caches secreted about the country, wealthy contractors who had benefited from the old regime, and foreign sources in the Sunni Arab world. The money of the Ba’ath party and the contractors are thought to be long gone.

The Sunni opposition today
Most of the conditions that brought the old insurgency are still in existence. The Sunnis endure loss of privilege and status as the regimes they dominated since the 1920s are gone. Salafism remains strong and indeed it has strengthened as Sunnis turn to austere religion to explain their defeats and offer answers.

Perhaps most significantly, young men from the tribes have lost the jobs that Saddam’s state and later the US surge had given them. The Shi’ite state ended these support systems and many young men are once again available – or they are supported through clandestine revenues from abroad. …more

Germany Arms Saudis Against Iran
July 26, 2011 |Julio Godoy

HAVANA TIMES, July 26 (IPS) — Germany’s delivery of armored tanks to Saudi Arabia is not aimed at repressing local or regional popular uprisings, but to improve Saudi military capabilities in a likely war against Iran, diplomatic and military experts say.

The German government’s decision to deliver 200 state-of-the-art Leopard 2 armored tanks to the Saudi monarchy – a deal estimated at 1.8 billion Euros – has triggered a wave of criticism by opposition leaders, commentators, the church and human rights groups.

Despite this criticism, the German government has defended the delivery of the tanks to Saudi Arabia, arguing that the Saudi monarchy, albeit a despotic regime, is “a pillar of stability” in the Middle East.

The German government also cites lack of U.S. or Israeli opposition, as justification for the deal with Saudi Arabia.

Contrary to the apprehension expressed by opposition leaders, commentators, and human rights groups, diplomatic and military experts believe that the Saudi regime will not use the German tanks to repress local popular uprisings demanding democratic reforms, but to eventually wage a war against Iran.

“To repress domestic enemies, the Saudis can use better suited equipment, including some 2,000 armored troops transport vehicles,” said Josef Joffe, publisher of the weekly newspaper ‘Die Zeit’.

Joffe is considered one of the most outspoken defenders among German media of the U.S.-Western European military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He also has links to the U.S. and to the Israeli governments.

By delivering the Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia, Joffe added, “Germany, together with the U.S.A. and Israel, is sending a message to the region, specifically to Iran: Here is more [military] deterrence. This argument should not be sneezed at.”

Joffe recalled that Germany recently delivered similar military equipment to other Arab governments. “In 2009, Germany delivered 36 Leopard 2 tanks to Qatar,” he said.

Additionally, the German army, the Bundeswehr, has admitted to carrying out military exercises in the United Arab Emirates to test the Leopard 2 tanks capabilities in the desert. The tests were apparently satisfactory.

Other Western governments – especially the U.S., Britain, and France – have for decades helped the Saudis to improve their arsenals.

Avi Primor, former Israeli ambassador to Berlin, and current president of the Israeli Foreign Affairs Association, agreed with Joffe. “Saudi Arabia uses other military equipment better suited to combat domestic popular uprisings,” Primor said.

In their recent intervention in Bahrain to help the repress the popular protests against the al-Khalifa family regime, the Saudis used light AMX armored tanks and not the heavier M1A2 Abrams tanks, of U.S. manufacture, Primor explained.

The Leopard 2 tanks are addressed to Iran specifically, Primor said.

Primor recalled that officially, Saudi Arabia is still at war with Israel. “But Israel and Saudi Arabia have a common enemy, Iran,” he said. “The Saudis consider Iran the most dangerous threat.”

Similarly, he added, “Israel has an urgent interest to strengthen the Saudi military capabilities, as a fortification against the Iranian danger, and as a stable power in the now unsecure Arab world.”

However, Primor said that the critique of human rights groups against the delivery of military equipment to Saudi Arabia is “understandable”. “The Saudi regime is quite archaic,” he said.

Despite such arguments, criticism of the tank exports is not going to end soon. Reinhold Robbe, until last year parliamentary commissioner for the German army, said that Saudi Arabia “is surely not a country that can stand up to the western standards of democracy and human rights.”

Such standards should be the guideline of German foreign policy, including military aid, Robbe said.

The Catholic Church also criticized the deal. “Germany should not deliver weapons in regions in military crisis, or to regimes that violate human rights,” said Bishop Stephan Ackerman, head of the church commission ‘Justitia et Pax’.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called the Saudi human rights record “dismal”, and emphasized that the regime is one of very few countries in the Arab region whose government has offered no human rights reforms in the wake of the popular uprisings spreading through neighboring countries since the beginning of the year.

“The sight of Saudi tanks rolling into Bahrain signaled the start of Bahrain’s crackdown on peaceful pro-democracy protesters there,” said Christoph Wilcke, senior Saudi Arabia researcher at HRW. “Saudi reformers may well interpret selling tanks to Saudi Arabia at this time as German support for repressive regimes.”

But the German government is turning a deaf ear to such criticism. Instead, it has been offering military equipment to other regimes with similar human rights records.

During a recent trip to Angola in mid-July, German Chancellor Angela Merkel offered the government of Jose Eduardo Dos Santos patrol boats and other military equipment.

It is not clear as yet, whether the boats will be delivered to Angola, but commentators are aghast that Merkel ignored the wave of criticism caused by the delivery of the Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia and instead acted as “a sales manager for the military industry”, said Claudia Roth, president of the opposition Green party here.

For Thorsten Denkler, foreign policy analyst for the daily newspaper ‘Die Sueddeutsche Zeitung’, “Merkel’s sensors seem to be failing.” Angola, Denkler added, “is one of the most corrupt regimes of the world, where even the constitution cements the one party system.”

Denkler also recalled that Amnesty International repeatedly condemns the human rights violations in the South West African country.

Denkler complained that Merkel’s appeals for a real political understanding of military exports ignores the basic moral prerequisites of foreign policy. “It is not that Germany should not export weapons,” Denkler said. “But such exports should only occur towards states where democracy and the rule of law are guaranteed.” …source

Fired Bahraini workers demand jobs
shiapost | August 1, 2011

Hundreds of workers in Bahrain have assembled outside the Ministry of Labor, demanding the government reinstate all unlawfully dismissed workers.

The recently-fired workers, who have been sacked for taking part in anti-regime demonstrations, gathered in front of the ministry in the Bahraini capital, Manama, on Monday, Press TV reports.

The Bahraini government and state-linked firms have fired more than two thousand workers since late March, according to Human Rights Watch.

Meanwhile, people in the southern Bahraini city of Sitra held a funeral service for a protester who was killed on Sunday when regime troops fired tear gas to disperse anti-government demonstrators.

On Monday, Saudi-backed security forces in Bahrain abducted a teenager from his home and tortured him for two hours.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates deployed military forces to Bahrain in mid-March to assist the Manama government in its brutal crackdown on the popular protests.

Scores of people have been killed and hundreds more arrested in Bahrain since mid-February. Numerous protesters have also been detained and transferred to unknown locations during the brutal onslaught on protesters.

Amnesty International has condemned the brutal crackdown on peaceful protests and detention of Bahraini protesters. …source

Ebrahim Sharif’s account of his arrest, torture, and a visit by the National Institute of Human Rights (translated)
By freeebrahimsharif more on FREE Ebrahim Sharif

The following three articles were written by Ebrahim Sharif (originally in Arabic, translated by his family) from inside Grain Prison, concerning his arrest, torture, and the visit of the National Institute of Human Rights.

The Arrest of Ebrahim Sharif
By Ebrahim Sharif

Arrest:

The arrest took place around 1:45 AM on the morning of Thursday, March 17th, 2011 when the doorbell rang. I went outside with my wife and found a group of masked investigators in addition to armed and masked policemen. They were accompanied by a National Security officer who was unarmed and dressed in civilian clothing. The officer asked me to open the front gate of the garden, and I asked him if he had an arrest warrant. He answered by saying no arrest warrant is required in the case of “National Security”. I opened the door and was arrested and placed in a civilian car where I was handcuffed and blindfolded. My house was not searched. Three people witnessed my arrest: My wife, Farida Ghulam, my neighbour, Mohammed Al Zeera, and his wife, Aisha Ghuloom. The car arrived at a building where I was taken to a room for a medical check up, after which some pictures of me were taken. I was blindfolded during the entire process except during the photographic session.

Next, I was taken out of the building, where my blindfolds were suddenly removed and I found myself surrounded by many masked men that pushed me around and cursed at me with swears such as “Your mother’s pussy”, “bastard”, and other degrading swear words. I was then blindfolded again and put into a van with other people, including Mr. Hassan Mushaima, who I recognized when I heard the security men call his name as they placed him into the van.

We later arrived to “Grein” prison at around 5 AM and were escorted out of the van. We stood in an area blindfolded as authorities and wardens directed threats and profanity at us. I heard them also curse at Mr. Hassan Mushaima, saying phrases such as “To hell with you and your 12 imams”. Afterwards, we were taken to one of the rooms where we were stripped from our clothes and then asked to wear the clothes again after removing our watches, belts, shoes, and eyeglasses. I was then taken to a cell. The treatment was poor and rough the entire time, with no shortage of insults, curses, threats and light beatings.
In prison:

I was put in building No. (4) along with five other prisoners. Sheikh Saeed Al-Nouri was put in cell number (1). Dr. Abdul Jalil Singace was put in cell number (2), Ibrahim Sharif in cell number (3), Sheikh Abdul Hadi Almukhaidher in cell number (4) and Alhurr Youssef Alsumaikh in cell number (5).
After less than an hour I was taken blindfolded to an office where an officer told me that he had met me previously, in the nineties in the State of Kuwait, and asked me if I knew where I was. I told him I do not know, he said, “You are in a place outside Bahrain,” and asked me to cooperate with him and place my hands in the King’s hands and give up my earlier positions. I told him, “My hands are in the king’s hands, but in my own way which is the way of reform,” and I added that the conversation with him could not be sustained without talking face to face by removing my blindfold so that I could explain my point of view and exchange opinions. We did not reach a result and I was taken back to the cell. …more

Obama’s promised new beginning
By Shahid Javed Burki
Published: July 31, 2011

The writer is a former vice-president of the World Bank and a former finance minister of Pakistan

In June 2009, less than six months after being sworn in as America’s president, Barack Obama addressed the citizens of the Islamic world. He chose Cairo’s Al Azhar University, the oldest surviving centre of Islamic learning, as the site for his much anticipated address. This was to be one of the most important and remembered speeches the president gave in the early part of his tenure. In it, he promised a new beginning in America’s relations with the world of Islam.

“I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslim world, one based upon mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition,” he told his large audience. “Instead they overlap, and share common principles of justice and progress; tolerance and dignity of all human beings. The people of the world can live together in peace. We know that is a God’s vision. Now that must be our work on Earth.”

President Obama thought that defining a new relationship between Islam and America was expected of him. He was a different kind of American president. “I’m a Christian, but my father came from a Kenyan family that includes generations of Muslims. As a boy I spent several years in Indonesia and heard the azan at the break of dawn and at the fall of dusk. As a young man, I worked in Chicago communities where many found dignity and peace in their Muslim faith.”

That speech was given two years ago. The American president could not have imagined how much would change in the Muslim world since the Cairo address. He must have hoped that democracy, liberty, freedom of expression, respect for the rule of law and rights of all citizens — ideas on which America had built its own society and its own political and social orders — would be adopted by those in the Muslim world where authoritarianism governed. That began to happen in ways that could not have been imagined in June 2009. One single and tragic act of defiance by a frustrated young fruit vendor in a small Tunisian town ignited the Arab world. The Arab street erupted and brought down two long-enduring regimes and threatened several others. The West, including America, surprised by these rapid moving events, stood by and watched as the Arab youth turned out in the streets and in public squares, no longer afraid that they will be mercilessly assaulted by the security forces. They brought down the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt. It was only when the Libyan regime threatened to massacre its own people that the West intervened.

The West began a military operation against the regime of Muammar Qaddafi in Libya that has lasted longer than expected. The Assad family that represents a small non-Sunni minority in a Sunni majority country launched a viscous campaign of repression to beat back those who wanted a more open political system. The opposite happened in Bahrain, where the Sunni establishment and monarch were challenged by the country’s large Shia majority. In Yemen, a society that was still governed by tribalism and tribal loyalties was set on fire, and it rages on even as the country’s long-serving president has gone to Saudi Arabia to recover from the injuries suffered during an attack on his compound by those who had rebelled against his rule. The Arab political revolution is actually work in progress.

There were other developments in the Muslim world. A political party inspired by Islam won the plurality of the vote in a general election and prolonged the rule of the country’s prime minister, Teyyip Erdogan. The Turks demonstrated that Islam was not incompatible with democracy. America and its Nato allies, fearing that they may get stuck in Afghanistan, began the search for a way out of that country that had defied so many other foreign interventions. The Americans found and killed Osama bin Laden in a city deep inside Pakistan’s territory, by carrying out an operation that was deeply resented by many in Pakistan, who considered it an act of aggression committed against a sovereign nation. After relations with Pakistan rapidly deteriorated, Washington indicated that it was holding back part of the aid it had promised the country’s military. A resolution was moved in Congress demanding a cut back in economic aid as well.

The Muslim world’s relations with America, therefore, were moving in directions that were not expected by the country’s new president. To use a favourite Obama expression, it is necessary for Washington to press the reset button. In doing so, it needs to recognise a few things. First, the world of Islam is not homogeneous. The people living in these countries belong to many different cultures and have had different histories. They are making economic, political and social progress at different speeds.

Second, the political systems that are evolving in these countries will be different. This is not surprising since the Christian nations in Europe and America don’t have the same political structures. Third, the strategic interests of countries in the Muslim world will not always be the same as that of America and its European allies. To force countries to follow Washington, Berlin, London and Paris is to generate resentment which is not good for any country inside or outside the Muslim world. Let us take three examples.

A more confident Istanbul has begun to carve out a role for itself in the Middle East, Central and South Asia that may not be in line with what the Americans consider to be their interests. An economically weakened and politically unsettled Islamabad is rightly nervous about what might emerge in its neighbourhood after the United States begins to pull out of Afghanistan. Tehran feels anxious because of the fact that it is the only major Shia country in the middle of a Sunni world. It may be inclined to give up its nuclear ambitions if it feels comfortable about its security situation.

In other words, in resetting the button, President Obama needs to move forward from rhetoric to real politics.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 1st, 2011.

….source

The Express Tribune
US announces massive arms sale to Saudi Arabia
By AFP – Published: October 21, 2010

The plan allows for the sale of 84 F-15 fighter jets, 70 Apache attack helicopters, 72 tactical Black Hawk helicopters and 36 light helicopters. PHOTO: AFP

WASHINGTON: In its biggest arms deal ever, the United States announced Wednesday it will sell up to 60 billion dollars worth of warplanes, helicopters and other weapons to Saudi Arabia, partly to help it counter Iran.

The plan allows for the sale of 84 F-15 fighter jets, 70 Apache attack helicopters, 72 tactical Black Hawk helicopters and 36 light helicopters, assistant secretary for political-military affairs Andrew Shapiro said.

The sale, which also includes the upgrade of 70 used F-15s, is “not to exceed 60 billion” dollars, Shapiro told reporters as President Barack Obama’s administration notified Congress of its plans to make the deal.

Congress has the authority to amend or delay the agreement, according to Shapiro, who said he did not expect Israeli opposition to the sale.

The delivery of the weapons to oil-rich Saudi Arabia would be spread over 15 to 20 years.

“It will send a strong message to countries in the region that we are committed to support the security of our key partners and allies in the Arabian Gulf and broader Middle East,” Shapiro said.

Though he said the deal is “not solely about Iran,” Shapiro admitted it is partly intended to help Saudi Arabia counter the perceived threat from the Islamic republic across the Gulf.

US defense officials said the deal had been in the works for months with the Saudis, who have grown increasingly anxious about Iran’s missile arsenal.

A senior defense official told reporters last month that “if you look at the kingdom, the major threat that they face in the region emanates from Iran.”

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the arms package “gives them a whole host of defensive capabilities to defend the kingdom and deterrence capabilities.”

The defense package also includes thousands of laser-guided smart bombs, including JDAMS, as well as Hellfire and Sidewinder missiles.

Arms sales to Saudi Arabia in the past have triggered concerns from Israel and its supporters in the United States, but US officials said they did not expect opposition.

“Our assessment is that this (sale) would not diminish Israel’s qualitative military edge, and therefore we felt comfortable in going forward with the sale,” Shapiro said.

Vershbow said US officials consulted Israel as the deal took shape.

“There have been high-level discussions, as well as working-level discussions. And I think it’s fair to say that, based on what we’ve heard at the high levels, Israel does not object to this sale,” he said. …source

SOURCE:Flight International
Saudi Arabia requests Sensor Fuzed Weapon buy
By Craig Hoyle – DATE:15/06/11

Textron Defense Systems could be poised to sell its CBU-105 Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW) system to Saudi Arabia, with a deal to be worth a possible $355 million.

Revealed by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) following a 10 June notification to Congress, the potential deal covers the delivery of 404 CBU-105D/B weapons and 28 integration test assets, plus test equipment and personnel training.

The DSCA described Riyadh’s request as being driven by “legitimate security and defence needs”, and said that potential targets for the weapon could include “bunkers, armoured and semi-armoured vehicles, personnel and certain maritime threats”.

Among the terms of a sale would be “an agreement that the cluster munitions and cluster munitions technology will be used only against clearly defined military targets and will not be used where civilians are known to be present or in areas normally inhabited by civilians,” it added.

The CBU-105 weapon has a 99.6% reliability rate, according to its manufacturer. In the event of a failure, each of its 40 individual “skeet” warheads is non-hazardous once on the ground.

No indication was given as to which aircraft type would be equipped with the SFW, but this is most likely to be the Royal Saudi Air Force’s Boeing F-15 fleet.

Textron late last year finalised a $257 million contract to provide 512 CBU-105s to the Indian air force, with these believed to be destined for carriage by its Hindustan Aeronautics-built Sepecat Jaguar ground-attack aircraft. …source

The New Bahrain-Pakistan Alliance
Bruce Riedel | August 2, 2011 – 02/08/2011

Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy is hiring hundreds of Baluchi mercenaries in Pakistan to crack down on the Shia majority’s demand for democracy and reform.

Saudi Arabia backs the Khalifa rulers, who are exacerbating sectarian anger and tensions throughout the Gulf. The Arab awakening puts American values and interests in contest with each other throughout the region but especially on this small island in the world’s energy storehouse.

Since the Arab Spring reached Manama, the hard-liners in the Khalifa family have tried to intimidate the Shia majority into accepting something less than their full rights as equal citizens and something less than a constitutional monarchy. The Saudi and Emirati forces that intervened in March back up the Bahraini National Guard, which does the dirty work of smashing demonstrations and arresting the reform leaders. For decades the Khalifas have recruited in Pakistan—especially its western province of Baluchistan—for Sunni soldiers who won’t hesitate to repress Shia.

Now the Khalifa are advertising and hiring by the hundreds in Baluchistan for retired soldiers and police to come urgently to the island and join the National Guard and the Bahrain Defense Force, the regular army. Several thousand have already enlisted. Want ads for more riot police jobs are in Pakistani papers. The ads say “urgent need” for “army and police experience.” Bahrain’s generals and diplomats have been pressing the Pakistani authorities to help them recruit mercenaries on a crash basis. The Saudis have encouraged Islamabad to send troops.

And Pakistan has been more than willing to help. It has been sending soldiers to keep Arab kings on their thrones for a half century. Zia ul Huq, Pakistan’s dictator, who led the anti-Russian jihad in Afghanistan, gained his combat experience in Jordan in the late 1960s fighting the Palestinian fedayeen. The Hashemites still regard him as a key to their survival in Black September 1970 when he helped crush the PLO. The Shia demonstrators in Manama now try to taunt the mercenaries by yelling at them in urdu “the police are crazy” since many speak no Arabic. A Baluchi soldier can get Bahraini citizenship for his duty, a reward that the Shia majority sees as a way to increase their sectarian rivals’ numbers.

The king has promised reform for years. Unrest has been persistent since the British gave the island independence in 1968. I witnessed stone-throwing demonstrations and tear gas in 1994. The Khalifas had many opportunities to open up the system and let them all pass by. Now the Saudis, especially Interior Minister Prince Nayif, who despises Shia, are calling the shots.

The Sauds and the Khalifa are only exacerbating the sectarian hatred on the island, probably sowing seeds that will sprout terror and violence up and down the Gulf. Iran and Iraq have both protested the treatment of the Shia on the island and criticized the royal family for its extreme sectarian policies. The Bahrainis and Saudis have accused Iran of stoking Shia unrest but so far have provided little proof. Bahraini politicians have been accusing Iran of meddling for decades; sooner or later it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.

For years the United States has pressed the Khalifa to engage in a genuine dialogue to bring about real change and democracy. Now Washington is quietly pushing for more from King Hamad bin Eisa al-Khalifa, but with little to show. The Obama administration thought it was close to a deal when the Saudis intervened. …more

Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI) begins investigations, Meanwhile Bahraini regime continues violations
2 Aug 2011 – BCHR

In a move supposedly intended to end the crises in Bahrain, King Hamad Al-Khalifa funded a commission to look into crimes committed against the people of Bahrain since February of 2011. The BICI headed by Mr. Bassiouni has just recently started its work and opened their doors for complaints and testimonies. However, they are welcomed with a mixture of skepticism and fear by the people of Bahraini.

One of the reasons people are not more hopeful about this commission is that while the BICI looks into crimes committed in previous month, more crimes are happening on the streets. The most serious of which is the death of Zainab Jummah, caused by excessive tear gas used by riot police to attack not only peaceful protesters but also homes in the villages where protests take place. On the 16th of July, Mrs Jummah a 42 year old mother, who was already ill, died after her house was attacked by tear gas. There are several videos with disturbing footage showing riot police intentionally shooting tear gas into the homes of unsuspecting civilians. There have been other similar cases of suffocation by tear gas in earlier months, what makes this case unique is that it happened during a time the Bahraini regime was preparing for the commission which they claimed would be a transitional move.

On the 23rd of July, the night before BICI’s opening press conference, an 18 year old protester was beaten severely by riot police in the village of AL-Eker. Five riot police kicked and hit him with their guns mostly on his head which resulted in a head injury, then left him on the street. When the protester was found he had a wound in his head and was covered in blood. Fearing that if police identified him he would get arrested, the victim has asked not to be named in this report. …more

Bahrain/Dublin: Professor Eoin O’Brien writes in todays Irish Examiner on the findings of the recent humanitarian mission to Bahrain
Posted on 2011/08/02 – Front Line Protection for Human Rights Defenders

Professor Eoin O’Brien writes in todays Irish Examiner on the findings of the recent humanitarian mission to Bahrain to offer support to imprisoned Bahraini doctors and their families.Three of the imprisoned doctors, Dr Ali Al Ekri, Dr Basim Daif and Dr Ghassan Daif studied in the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin.

The delegation was led by Professor Damian McCormac, who was also joined by Ms Averil Power TD (member of the Irish Parliament). Ms Marion Harken MEP, Mr David Andrews former Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Front Line representatives Andrew Anderson and Khalid Ibrahim. The full text of the article is published below.

“I went home from my work as usual following a day of work as an oncologist at the Salymaniya Medical Centre. I was awoken from sleep at 3 a.m. when the door of my apartment was kicked open and I was pulled form my bed by two men who then ransacked the flat, shook and searched my four-year old child, packed my personal papers and computer, and then dragged me from my flat to an a van surrounded by police cars. I protested that my child was alone and young and was told she would be looked after.

I was taken to a room blindfolded and handcuffed with my hands behind my back. After hours of standing against a wall I was verbally insulted and then placed in solitary confinement for 10 days in a small dirty cell, during which time I was tortured, sexually molested by both male and female interrogators and beaten with a hose on the back and neck. I was then moved to a gaol where I could hear other prisoners being tortured and I was interrogated repeatedly. I was filmed signing many papers the content of which no longer mattered to me, but among which was a confession that I had stolen drugs from the Hospital and that I had incited disturbance.

This harrowing account is typical of many similar reports from imprisoned doctors who have been released form prison, and from the spouses and children of doctors who remain in prison that I have heard first-hand during a recent visit to Bahrain as a member of delegation consisting two doctors, Damian McCormack and me; three politicians, Averil Power, Senator of the Irish Parliament, David Andrews, former Minister for Foreign Affairs for Ireland, and Marian Harkin, Member of the European Parliament; two members of Dublin based international human rights organisation Front Line Defenders, the Deputy Director, Andrew Anderson, and Khalid Ibrahim; and a freelance photo journalist, Conor McCabe.

During a two-day visit we met close to 100 people from all sides of Bahraini life. We were brought to the house of a family, which had suffered dearly in the aftermath of the protests, where 27 women and men were gathered representing doctors who had been released from prison to await trial, and the spouses and children of doctors detained in prison. We were brought to a secret suburban location at night to meet ambulance drivers who had been taken from their ambulances, imprisoned and tortured, and medical students, some of whom have been prevented continuing their studies.

At our meeting with the doctors and their relatives their fairness in acknowledging what had been good in the Bahrain health care system, their affection for Salmaniya Hospital where so many of them had served for many years, and their regard for the previous Minister of Health, who had resigned because he had failed to protect doctors, was in contrast to their sense of betrayal by RCSI-Bahrain and the fact that none from the many representatives of both RCSI or RCPI, who had visited the country recently for the conferring of doctors, had made any attempt to contact the families of imprisoned health care workers. …more

Bahraini politician’s wife tells of fear
Amal Matar tells Al Jazeera that arbitrary arrests have made people scared of testifying before investigating panels. – 02 Aug 2011

The government of Bahrain insists human rights experts are being given unrestricted access to investigate allegations of abuse during protests earlier this year. However, hundreds of protestors remain in prison as stories circulate of torture and arbitrary arrests.

Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford spoke to Amal Matar, the wife of Matar Ibrahim Matar, a jailed opposition politician.