Iran deploys warships to the Mediterranean
18 February, 2012 – By Mohammad Davari – Agence France Presse

TEHRAN: Iranian warships entered the Mediterranean Sea after crossing the Suez Canal on Saturday to show Tehran’s “might” to regional countries, the navy commander said, amid simmering tensions with Israel.

“The strategic navy of the Islamic Republic of Iran has passed through the Suez Canal for the second time since the (1979) Islamic Revolution,” Admiral Habibollah Sayari said in remarks quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

He did not say how many vessels had crossed the canal, or what missions they were planning to carry out in the Mediterranean, but said the flotilla had previously docked in the Saudi port city of Jeddah.

Two Iranian ships, the destroyer Shahid Qandi and supply vessel Kharg, had docked in the Red Sea port on February 4, according to Iranian media.

Sayari said the naval deployment to the Mediterranean would show “the might” of the Islamic republic to regional countries, and also convey Tehran’s “message of peace and friendship.”

The announcement comes amid heightened tensions between Iran and Israel, fuelled by the longstanding dispute over Tehran’s nuclear programme and rising speculation that Israel might launch pre-emptive strikes against Iranian facilities.

Israeli officials are also accusing Tehran of orchestrating anti-Israeli bombings in India and Georgia as well as blasts in Thailand. Iran denies the allegations.

The first Iranian presence in the Mediterranean in February 2011 provoked strong reactions from Israel and the United States, with the Jewish state putting its navy on alert.

During the 2011 deployment, two Iranian vessels, a destroyer and a supply ship, sailed past the coast of Israel and docked at the Syrian port of Latakia before returning to Iran via the Red Sea.

Israeli leaders denounced the move as a “provocation” and a “powerplay.”

Iran’s navy has been boosting its presence in international waters in the past two years, deploying vessels to the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden on missions to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates. …more

FIA Spokesman: “The FIA, like many in the diplomatic community in the kingdom, the main political opposition, as well as the UK-Bahrain All-Party Parliamentary Group writing in the Times, believes the staging of a Grand Prix would be beneficial in bridging some of the difficulties Bahrain is experiencing.

Bernie Ecclestone resists calls to cancel Bahrain Grand Prix
14 February, 20120 – Guardian – Paul Weaver

Bernie Ecclestone, the F1 commercial rights holder, says the demonstrators were just a lot of kids having a go at the police.

A fresh plea for the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix was made on Tuesday as armoured vehicles rumbled through the capital, Manama, helicopters whirred overhead, protesters threw petrol bombs and police responded with teargas as violence commemorated the anniversary of last year’s Day of Rage pro-democracy uprising in the Gulf kingdom.

Maryam al-Khawaja, head of the foreign relations office at the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, said: “The government promised changes last year but no changes have taken place because there is no incentive to make them. And tortures are still taking place.

“The government want the message to go out that it is business as usual. But today armoured vehicles went into residential areas for the first time since last year’s martial law ended in June. I have heard reports of protesters being thrown from rooftops and others having legs broken. That it is why Formula One should make a stand and call this race off.”

But the resolute message from the Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone and the sport’s governing body, the FIA, is that the race will go ahead on 22 April. Last year’s event, which was due to open the season, was cancelled after two postponements.

Ecclestone, the sport’s commercial rights holder, said day: ” I expected there was going to be a big uprising today, with the anniversary. But I think what happened, apparently, was that here were a lot of kids having a go at the police. I don’t think it’s anything serious at all.

“It doesn’t change our position in any shape or form. If the people in Bahrain [the government] say, ‘Look Bernie, it wouldn’t be good for you to come over here,’ then I would think again. That is what they said last year.”

Meanwhile in Paris an FIA spokesman said: “The FIA, like many in the diplomatic community in the kingdom, the main political opposition, as well as the UK-Bahrain All-Party Parliamentary Group writing in the Times, believes the staging of a Grand Prix would be beneficial in bridging some of the difficulties Bahrain is experiencing. …more

Human rights activist Paki Wieland of Northampton returns from Bahrain
By BOB DUNN – Daily Hampton Gazette

Paki Wieland answers questions about her trip to Bahrain during a press conference Friday at the First Churches on Main Street in Northampton.

NORTHAMPTON – After being detained in Bahrain and deported by its authorities, Northampton resident and human rights activist Paki Wieland says she remains resolute to stand with its people to welcome a new era of democracy and freedom.

Wieland, along with five other American observers, were detained earlier this week at a road block on “trumped-up” charges, she said, then deported about 12 hours later.

Wieland told a group of about 25 at the First Churches of Northampton on Friday afternoon about her experience as an observer and activist as part of “Witness Bahrain,” an effort to provide a civilian presence to report and monitor the government’s response to demonstrations marking the one-year anniversary of the “Arab Spring” pro-democracy protests.

The group of six were stopped at a roadblock en route to the Pearl Roundabout in Manama, which Wieland said was the epicenter of pro-democracy protests in the area, a place she said is akin to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., in that it is a prominent public space for expression and demonstration.

Wieland said that on the road toward the roundabout, she could hear concussion grenades detonating in the distance and round after round of tear gas canisters being discharged to disperse the gathering crowds.

She said the authorities kept launching tear gas into the fleeing crowd even as it began to break up.

Wieland, who entered the country on a tourist visa, said that the rationale she was given for her detention was that she had checked into a different hotel than she had a reservation for.

She told the group that was the fault of a local taxi driver who couldn’t find the hotel she had booked, and instead took her to a closer, more familiar one.

Wieland said she and the others were not subjected to harsh treatment at the hands of the authorities nor asked many questions while being detained in a nondescript room at the local police station.

Wieland said because she was deported she can’t legally return to Bahrain until the administration changes, a situation she hopes comes about soon.

She said that she left the country with a deep sense of respect for the Bahraini people and their tenacity. She said they are fighting so hard for democracy because “they have nothing left to lose.”

“As brutal as the government forces can be,” Wieland said, “the people aren’t deterred.”

Wieland said people in Bahrain hold up their fingers in a peace-sign like gesture and say, “Samud,” which means “steadfast” in English, as a sign of support and solidarity.

“We are all ‘samud,'” Wieland said.

…source