Posts from — September 2013

HM King Hamad Congratulated on Arab Honour
2 September, 2013 – BNA

Manama, Sep 1 (BNA) –The Kingdom of Bahrain will officially host the headquarters of the Arab Human Rights Court. The Arab League Council today approved in its evening session the Kingdom Bahrain to host the permanent HQ of the pan-Arab rights tribunal.

Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa congratulated His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa on the Arab honour. Shaikh Khalid paid tribute to HM the King for his farsighted initiative which keeps pace with the aspirations of the Arab peoples. He hailed the pan-Arab court as a quantum leap forward and major step for human rights in the region and the Arab World.

He underscored the importance of the Royal initiative in promoting human rights to keep pace with other developed nations which boast major strides in this field.

“The initiative to establish the court stems from HM the King’s firm belief in the importance of human rights and basic human liberties”, Shaikh Khalid said. He described the endorsement of Bahrain to host the permanent HQ as a positive step on the right path to disseminate and protect human rights in the Arab World. He stressed Bahrain’s firm resolve to spare no effort for the court to achieve its goals and promote the protection of human rights in the Arab World. …more

Obama, Cameron climbed a tree, don’t know how to get down : Al-Jaafari
1 September, 2013 – Shia Post

Syria’s permanent representative to the UN Dr. Bashar al-Jaafari said that US President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron “climbed to the top of the tree and don’t know how to get down,” which is why they resorted to the House of Commons and the Congress to seek a way out of the trouble they got themselves into, or were placed in by others.

In a phone call with the Syrian TV on Saturday, al-Jaafari said that Obama is under a lot of pressure from the hardline right wing, neo-Zionists, Israel, Turkey and some Arabs, and that he did well by emulating Cameron by referring the decision of waging an aggression on Syria to the congress, which is how Cameron “got down from the tree.”

He said that the western media has become a very negative war media, pressuring for aggression against Syria more than military personnel who seem hesitant, citing the example of CNN which began to criticize Obama immediately after his speech, saying that he hesitated and changed his mind.

Al-Jaafari said that civilians at the US State Department, the Pentagon and the White House who are pushing Obama to wage an aggression, which is ironic because military figures are the ones who are usually enthusiastic about military action, yet the US Chief of Staff, Defense Secretary and top officers seem very hesitant when it comes to attacking Syria. …more

Arab states urge international action against Syrian government
2 September, 2013 – Shia Post

Arab states on Sunday called on the international community to take action against the Syrian government over a chemical gas attack that killed hundreds of civilians.

The final resolution of an Arab League meeting in Cairo urged the United Nations and international community to “take the deterrent and necessary measures against the culprits of this crime that the Syrian regime bears responsibility for”.

The Arab League foreign ministers also said those responsible for the attack should face trial, as other “war criminals” have.

The head of Syria’s opposition National Coalition on Sunday urged Arab countries to back US-led Western strikes on the Damascus regime over an alleged chemical weapons attack.

“I am here before you today to appeal to your brotherly and humanitarian sentiments and ask you to back the international operation against the destructive war machine” of the Syrian regime, Ahmad al-Jarba told a Cairo meeting of Arab League foreign ministers.

Saudi Arabia on Sunday called on the world community to take all necessary steps to deter Syrian government violence.

“The time has come to call on the world community to bear its responsibility and take the deterrent measure that puts a halt to the tragedy,” Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told an Arab League meeting in Cairo. …more

The first Photo below is a “Car Bombing” in Bahrain, MOI blames Democratic Opposition, though they only have confession coerced though torture to corroborate their allegations.

The second is a recent “Car Bombing” in Turkey. Note: images of Bahrain “Car Bombings”, if you can even find them in the Western Media, are often “close up(because no debris field) and resemble a “Car Fire”. Much of the “crime scene” is arranged and the small amount of debris obviously staged. Note the Bahrain “Car Bomb” picture, there is a tent within ten feet unfettered by the blast or the fire and what’s up with the door in the bed of the truck?

News Stories Published to the West seldom have images, but have a picture of a MAp showing where in the world Bahrain is… The “Car Bomb” in Turkey, well that’s “bloody car bomb”.

Saudi King Abdullah Lavishes Hillary Clinton With N81 Million ($500K) Worth Of Jewels
1 September, 2013 – by naijamayor
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This file photo shows, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, right, holding a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Riyadh. Photo: AP

This file photo shows, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, right, holding a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Riyadh. Photo: AP

Foreign leaders gave lavish gifts to a number of US officials last year, including the Saudi Arabian king, who gave Hillary Clinton diamond-and-ruby-encrusted jewels worth half a million dollars.

Clinton’s gifts from King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz – which included a necklace, bracelet, earrings and a ring – were by far the most expensive items among the hundreds of gifts given to US officials in 2012.

A complete list of the gifts received last year, as well as a couple dozen from previous years, were disclosed by the State Department on Thursday.

The gift-giving continues a long-held tradition of international diplomacy, in which dignitaries show their appreciation for one another by exchanging artwork, jewelry, electronics and other presents.

Most of the items are required to be donated to the national archives, though a few may be bought by the recipients. The Hill newspaper first reported on the gifts.

In addition to her jewels from Saudi Arabia, Clinton also received wine from Algeria; a two-piece bronze sculpture of a red chili pepper from Singapore; a cuff bracelet, necklace and earrings from Kazakhstan; caviar and a wool carpet from Azerbaijan; Cognac from Russia; and gold, sapphire and diamond jewelry worth $58,000 from Brunei.

Among President Obama’s gifts were: Christmas mugs, coffee, and steak knives from Brunei; a basketball autographed by Chinese President Xi Jinping; a ‘silver figure representing [an] oversized coffee bean’ from Colombia; a leather wallet and tote bag from France; a porcelain vase decorated with images of the White House and Kremlin from Russia; a chest of liquor and a Coca-Cola bottle decorated with beads from Mexico; and a 41-inch saber from Mongolia. …more

Siding With A Tyrant: British Policy Towards Bahrain And Its People
By Daniel Wickham – 2 September, 2013 – The left foot forward

In early August, David Cameron met with the King of Bahrain in Downing Street for the third time since he took office in 2010. The Prime Minister was keen to “reiterate the UK’s support for ongoing political reform in Bahrain”, though according to Human Rights Watch “no progress” has actually been made so far by the government. Hours later, King Hamad had banned protests in the capital city of Manama in preparation for pro-democracy demonstrations planned for the 14th of August- a move described by Amnesty International as an “outrageous” violation of international law.

Over the next few days the Bahraini authorities arrested lawyers, denied human rights activists the right to enter the country and began erecting barbed wire around villages to prevent protests. The Bahraini Prime Minister warned that illegal demonstrations would be met with force, echoing his earlier remarks that the regime would “burn to a cinder all those who seek to tamper with its security and stability.”

Despite the warnings, thousands took to the streets on the 14th of August, the anniversary of Bahrain’s independence from the United Kingdom (an event not celebrated by King Hamad, who insists that “for all practical and strategic purposes the British presence has not changed” since it was a protectorate). As promised, the authorities responded violently, beating and arresting over a dozen protesters and firing tear gas and birdshot at many more.

Political repression of this kind is now a daily reality for many Bahrainis. Since the uprising began in February 2011, the security forces have killed around eighty civilians, among them children who were gassed to death in their own homes. Thousands more have been arrested for taking part in protests, and hundreds are reported to have been tortured in state custody.

The regime has sought to justify the crackdown as part of a larger war on terror, using the pretext of Iranian aggression to smear the Shia-led pro-democracy movement as some sort of proxy for Tehran. But Bahrain’s own Independent Commission of Inquiry and diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks have shown that there is no evidence of Iranian involvement in the unrest.

Yet still Britain continues to reiterate the regime’s propaganda about a “foreign plot.” Ambassador Ian Lindsay has “condemned Iran’s meddling” in Bahrain, accusing Tehran of “providing support to people who are bent on violence” and even going as far as publishing pro-regime smears about the protesters on the British government website.

But the clearest example of foreign “meddling” has come not from Iran, but from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which in 2011 sent its National Guard in to support the crackdown, using British armoured vehicles to do it. Naturally this warranted no such criticism from Ambassador Lindsay, despite the findings of the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Arms Exports Controls that the vehicles “facilitated extreme violence against civilian demonstrators and very serious human rights abuses” in Bahrain.

Later that year, birdshot pellets made by the British arms company Gamebore were found to have been used against Bahraini protesters, eleven of whom have been killed by birdshot since 2011 (though it is not clear what make of pellets were responsible). Britain has also supplied the country with FinFisher spyware which was then used to target pro-democracy activists in London, Washington and Manama.

Throughout the crackdown Britain has loyally remained one of the regime’s closest allies and biggest military suppliers, while the Bahraini people have reportedly suffered the single largest decline in political freedom of any Middle Eastern nation in the last five years. The tear gassing, torture, house raids and jailing of dissidents continues unabated. Britain had the chance to condemn these practises at the UN Human Rights Council in 2012 along with 28 other countries, but chose to remain silent (as did the United States). …more