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Al Khalifa’s “loaded” reform deal backfires – Jailed Opposition must be at Table for any dialogue

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Home / Middle-East / Double whammy for Bahraini peace and prosperity drive
Double whammy for Bahraini peace and prosperity drive

By DAVID E. MILLER | THE MEDIA LINE

Published: Jun 12, 2011 21:00 Updated: Jun 12, 2011 21:00

Bahrain’s efforts to restore peace and prosperity received twin blows over the weekend as opposition forces staged their first rally since martial law was lifted and the governing body of world Formula One racing rescinded a decision to hold the Bahrain Grand Prix in October.

A mass demonstration by the country’s majority Shiites on Saturday was peaceful. Under the slogan “Bahrain, a homeland for all,” thousands of protesters gathered in the city of Sar to demand political reforms and a more democratic legislature. But human rights activists warned that the rally was organized by moderates and that demands for more far-reaching reforms would be testing the government’s tolerance.

“There are opposition groups that demand to topple the regime and others that demand reform. Al-Wefaq demands reform,” Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights told The Media Line, adding that more radical oppositionists were still held in prison.

A day before the rally, Bahrain’s most senior Shiite cleric, Sheikh Isa Qassim said Friday is no chance for talks with the nation’s Sunni rulers so long as security forces maintain their clampdown on protests. “We cannot negotiate in such conditions,” Sheikh Qassim told worshippers in a mostly Shiite area outside the capital of Manama, according to the Associated Press.

King Hamad Al-Khalifa is in a delicate position. While many in his government feel threatened by what they say is Iranian interference aimed at toppling his regime, Bahrain is under pressure from the US and from human rights groups to end the wave of arrests and summary justice. Those concerns could jeopardize Bahrain’s role as a regional financial center.

Speakers at Saturday’s rally made a special effort to emphasize national unity and disregard sectarian divisions, and Bahraini police responded in kind by not intervening to quell the protest. …more