Shiite Uprising Widening in Saudi Arabia
Saturday, October 8, 2011 – IMRA

TEHRAN (FNA)- Activists from Saudi Arabia’s heavily Shiite Muslim-populated Eastern province attacked Riyadh’s pledge to crack down with an “iron fist” on further protests in the oil-rich but long-restive region.

Eastern Shiite campaigners also hit back at government claims that an unnamed foreign power was behind protests there this week.

The comments highlight rising tensions between Saudi Arabia’s Sunni rulers and a Shiite minority that accuses the government of discrimination and has been further sensitized by neighboring Bahrain’s clampdown on a Shiite
uprising there.

Tawfiq al-Saif, a Shiite writer and community leader in the Eastern city of Qatif near the centre of the unrests, said, “Saying there was a foreign power behind this is nonsense. There is a tension (here) for a long time. So
to use force will actually add more fuel to the fire.”
[Read more →]

Saudi Arabia: Protests Stifled and Blamed on a “Foreign Country”
8 Otcober, 2011 – INEWP.com

Spokesmen from the government of Saudi Arabia assured the nation that the recent unrest in the oil-rich eastern province of Qatif has been put down and stability restored. The government also stated that a “foreign country” was behind the unrest, many interpreting this “foreign country” as Iran since the majority of the Shi’ite population in Saudi Arabia is concentrated in the east where the unrest has been taking place.

A total of fourteen people, eight of them police officers, were injured.

Saudi Arabia’s national media, the Saudi Press Agency, said that the Ministry of Interior spotted a group riding on motorbikes “carrying petrol bombs” near the city of Qatif.

According to the SPA, the Ministry of Interior holds this motorbiking group of outlaws responsible, along with the foreign country backing them, for the attempts that are trying to “undermine the nation’s security and stability”.

Although Saudi Arabia has not experienced Arab Spring/the Jasmine Revolution that has struck nearby Yemen, Bahrain, Tunisia, Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and other countries, its eastern city of Qatif was the site of protests earlier in March which were calling for the release of Shi’ite prisoners who, according to them, are still being held in prison without any charges.

The protests in March were also dispersed by Saudi security as protesting against the monarchy has been illegal since the early 20th century.

Recently, in order to keep touch with his people, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah has pledged to spend $36 billion on social welfare and the creation of jobs as frustration grows among the younger population of Saudi Arabia over the lack of economic drive.

In addition, King Abdullah symbolically put forth royal decrees that now allow Saudi women to vote and participate in moderate level politics while also excusing a Saudi woman from being caned for getting arrested in the wake of the Women2Drive protests that encouraged Saudi women to resist the restriction on women driving. …source

Balancing act in Saudi Arabia
Friday, October 7, 2011 – GWYNNE DYER -Hurriyet Daily

It’s amazing how much sub-text you can pack into a single word. Consider this recent announcement by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia: “Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal elections and will EVEN have the right to vote.” Well, hurray.

On the other hand, you could easily accuse the 87-year-old monarch of dragging his feet on reform, because he waited until this year’s municipal elections were almost upon the country (held last month) before announcing that women could vote the next time, in 2015. Boo.

But that’s not fair to King Abdullah. He’s actually moving fast on women’s rights, because 2015 will be only eight years after Saudi Arabian men were allowed to vote for the first time, in the 2007 municipal elections. AND women will henceforward also be eligible for appointment to the Shura Council, the 150-member unelected congress that the king consults with on matters of public concern. Hurray.

Hang on a minute. Two days after Abdullah made that announcement a Saudi court sentenced a woman to receive 10 lashes for the crime of driving while female. Boo. And hang on further, later the king overturned the court ruling and spared the woman. Hurray. And on and on, in an endless counterpoint of progressive measures and conservative crackdowns.

So what is actually going on here? What we are seeing is a few surface manifestations of the struggle that is going on among the Saudi elite about how to respond to the “Arab Spring.” The pro-democracy movements are operating right along Saudi Arabia’s frontiers, in Jordan, in Yemen and, most frighteningly, in Bahrain. Everyone agrees that SOMETHING MUST BE DONE, but what? …more

[cb editor: it is a well known practice for law enforcement to make and deploy “custom” munitions. While this maybe be outside of official MOI policy, it has surely occurred and similarly there has been consistent misuse and deployment of Less-than-lethal weapons in a lethal manner, also outside of MOI official policy. There are other reports emerging, within the last hours, that indicate an increased use of lethal rounds against unarmed protesters. This is a significant departure from what has been seen in recent months. ]

BNA (state news) excerpt: In another development, a ballistic test conducted by a CID forensic expert has revealed that the pellets extracted from the corpse have failed to match the ones used by the Interior Ministry. ..source BNA

[cb editor: large pellets are on the size/order of “buckshot”, these are easily mixed in with “birdshot” to create a masked lethal load. The deformity of the larger pellets are caused from impact, normally they are round, smaller birdshot retain more of their form on impact. The use of buckshot on unarmed and largely nonviolent protesters is a deeply troubling development. ]

THE BOOK OF MARTYRS
Emily Dickinson

Read, sweet, how others strove,
Till we are stouter;
What they renounced,
Till we are less afraid;
How many times they bore
The faithful witness,
Till we are helped,
As if a kingdom cared!

Read then of faith
That shone above the fagot;
Clear strains of hymn
The river could not drown;
Brave names of men
And celestial women,
Passed out of record
Into renown!

US politicians seek to halt Bahrain arms deal
Concerned about the kingdom’s response to a popular uprising, members of Congress aim to bloc a $53m sale.
Last Modified: 08 Oct 2011 16:18 – AlJazeera

US members of Congress, concerned about the Bahraini government’s response to a popular uprising, introduced a rare measure that would halt a $53m arms sale to the Gulf Arab state.

US Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon and US Representative James McGovern of Massachusetts, both Democrats, said they introduced resolutions in both houses of Congress on Friday to prevent the sale of US weapons to Bahrain “until meaningful steps are taken to improve human rights” there.

“Selling weapons to a regime that is violently suppressing peaceful civil dissent and violating human rights is antithetical to our foreign policy goals and the principle of basic rights for all that the US has worked hard to promote,” Wyden said in a statement posted on his website.

“The US should not reward a regime that actively suppresses its people. This resolution will withhold the sale of arms to Bahrain until the ruling family shows a real commitment to human rights,” Wyden said.

The Pentagon last month notified Congress that it had approved the sale of $53m of weapons to Bahrain, including more than 44 armored vehicles and 300 missiles, 50 of which have bunker busting capability.

Prime contractors for the arms sale would be AM General and Raytheon Co, according to the Defence Security Co-operation Agency, the part of the Pentagon that oversees foreign arms sales.

The notice of the sale was officially reported to Congress on September 14, triggering a 30-day period during which Congress can pass a resolution opposing the sale.

Members of Congress seldom challenge arms sales notifications since weapons sales are generally vetted with Congress before being made public.

In the wake of the so-called “Arab spring,” which swept the governments of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya from power, Bahrain’s Shia majority turned up the political heat in the island country, which put down a pro-democracy uprising earlier this year with the help of neighboring Saudi Arabia.

Many Shia areas are witnessing almost nightly clashes with police. Opposition groups say heavy-handed police tactics are worsening tension on the street.

Hundreds of Shia were dismissed from their jobs over suspected roles in the protests and many remain in police detention.

About 30 people, mainly Shia, died when the protest movement erupted in February, but ongoing clashes and deaths in police custody have taken the total past 40, according to the Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR).

McGovern said it was not in the United States’ national security interest to sell weapons to Bahrain.

“Human rights ought to matter in our foreign and military policy,” he said. “Now is not the time to sell weapons to Bahrain.” …source