Al-Eker Under Siege

23 October 2012 – By Anonymous

The government of Bahrain is laying siege upon the small village of Al-Eker, preventing food, water and medical supplies from entering it. This unprecedented attempt to choke a whole village from basic life nececssities comes as a reaction to an alleged killing of a policeman in an explosion in the village – a charge the people of the village have reportedly denied. The Bahrain Center for Human Rights reports that the police has raided the village a number of times, leaving a Shi’a mosque vandalized and seven citizens arrested. Three human rights activists who have attempted to break the siege have also been arrested. Ten Bahraini civil society groups, including secular and Islamist political organizations, have urgently appealed to Ban-Ki Moon at the United Nations.

The government of Bahrain has attempted to ridicule the village’s claims of besiegement by running a video footage in its media outlets showing a Kentucky Fried Chicken delivery motorbike driving through the security checkpoint. The state-controlled media has also reported a statement by Prime Minister Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the world’s longest serving Prime Minister with a reputation for corruption and ruthlessness, condemning the alleged killing of the policeman and warning Bahraini citizens who carry out the political agenda of a foreign country – a reference to Iran.

Western media outlets have so far not reported this developing story. Bahrain hosts the US Fifth Fleet, has signed a Free Trade Agreement with the United States and is considered a strategic ally by the Obama administration. The United Kingdom, which had once controlled Bahrain as a protectorate, has recently signed a “Defense Cooperation Agreement”whereby the two states “promote cooperation in all fields, including exchanging intelligence and visits, training, education, scientific and technical cooperation and joint training.”