…from beneath the crooked bough, witness 230 years of brutal tyranny by the al Khalifas come to an end

Hundreds of Children have been killed by Savage Attacks on Children in US Drone Attacks. Here is a Partial List of their Names.

PAKISTAN

Name | Age | Gender
Noor Aziz | 8 | male
Abdul Wasit | 17 | male
Noor Syed | 8 | male
Wajid Noor | 9 | male
Syed Wali Shah | 7 | male
Ayeesha | 3 | female
Qari Alamzeb | 14| male
Shoaib | 8 | male
Hayatullah KhaMohammad | 16 | male
Tariq Aziz | 16 | male
Sanaullah Jan | 17 | male
Maezol Khan | 8 | female
Nasir Khan | male
Naeem Khan | male
Naeemullah | male
Mohammad Tahir | 16 | male
Azizul Wahab | 15 | male
Fazal Wahab | 16 | male
Ziauddin | 16 | male
Mohammad Yunus | 16 | male
Fazal Hakim | 19 | male
Ilyas | 13 | male
Sohail | 7 | male
Asadullah | 9 | male
khalilullah | 9 | male
Noor Mohammad | 8 | male
Khalid | 12 | male
Saifullah | 9 | male
Mashooq Jan | 15 | male
Nawab | 17 | male
Sultanat Khan | 16 | male
Ziaur Rahman | 13 | male
Noor Mohammad | 15 | male
Mohammad Yaas Khan | 16 | male
Qari Alamzeb | 14 | male
Ziaur Rahman | 17 | male
Abdullah | 18 | male
Ikramullah Zada | 17 | male
Inayatur Rehman | 16 | male
Shahbuddin | 15 | male
Yahya Khan | 16 |male
Rahatullah |17 | male
Mohammad Salim | 11 | male
Shahjehan | 15 | male
Gul Sher Khan | 15 | male
Bakht Muneer | 14 | male
Numair | 14 | male
Mashooq Khan | 16 | male
Ihsanullah | 16 | male
Luqman | 12 | male
Jannatullah | 13 | male
Ismail | 12 | male
Taseel Khan | 18 | male
Zaheeruddin | 16 | male
Qari Ishaq | 19 | male
Jamshed Khan | 14 | male
Alam Nabi | 11 | male
Qari Abdul Karim | 19 | male
Rahmatullah | 14 | male
Abdus Samad | 17 | male
Siraj | 16 | male
Saeedullah | 17 | male
Abdul Waris | 16 | male
Darvesh | 13 | male
Ameer Said | 15 | male
Shaukat | 14 | male
Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male
Salman | 12 | male
Fazal Wahab | 18 | male
Baacha Rahman | 13 | male
Wali-ur-Rahman | 17 | male
Iftikhar | 17 | male
Inayatullah | 15 | male
Mashooq Khan | 16 | male
Ihsanullah | 16 | male
Luqman | 12 | male
Jannatullah | 13 | male
Ismail | 12 | male
Abdul Waris | 16 | male
Darvesh | 13 | male
Ameer Said | 15 | male
Shaukat | 14 | male
Inayatur Rahman | 17 | male
Adnan | 16 | male
Najibullah | 13 | male
Naeemullah | 17 | male
Hizbullah | 10 | male
Kitab Gul | 12 | male
Wilayat Khan | 11 | male
Zabihullah | 16 | male
Shehzad Gul | 11 | male
Shabir | 15 | male
Qari Sharifullah | 17 | male
Shafiullah | 16 | male
Nimatullah | 14 | male
Shakirullah | 16 | male
Talha | 8 | male

YEMEN
Afrah Ali Mohammed Nasser | 9 | female
Zayda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 7 | female
Hoda Ali Mohammed Nasser | 5 | female
Sheikha Ali Mohammed Nasser | 4 | female
Ibrahim Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 13 | male
Asmaa Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 9 | male
Salma Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | female
Fatima Abdullah Mokbel Salem Louqye | 3 | female
Khadije Ali Mokbel Louqye | 1 | female
Hanaa Ali Mokbel Louqye | 6 | female
Mohammed Ali Mokbel Salem Louqye | 4 | male
Jawass Mokbel Salem Louqye | 15 | female
Maryam Hussein Abdullah Awad | 2 | female
Shafiq Hussein Abdullah Awad | 1 | female
Sheikha Nasser Mahdi Ahmad Bouh | 3 | female
Maha Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 12 | male
Soumaya Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 9 | female
Shafika Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 4 | female
Shafiq Mohammed Saleh Mohammed | 2 | male
Mabrook Mouqbal Al Qadari | 13 | male
Daolah Nasser 10 years | 10 | female
AbedalGhani Mohammed Mabkhout | 12 | male
Abdel- Rahman Anwar al Awlaki | 16 | male
Abdel-Rahman al-Awlaki | 17 | male
Nasser Salim | 19

…source

Bahrain Regime Routinely Arrests Children as a means of terrorising families who have members that are politically active. Some Children face rape and torture by Bahrain Prison Guard and are force to stay in overflowing prisons with the adult population. There is no independent oversight and Red Crescent does not have free access to Bahrain’s Political Prisoners.

Pictures of a Small Part of Bahrain’s Imprisoned Children

Saudi law warns US not to interfere in domestic affairs, democracy or human rights – advocate
4 February, 2014 – Voice of Russia

Saudi Arabia has signaled to the United States ahead of US President Barack Obama’s upcoming visit to the country that human rights will be subordinated to the pursuit of terrorists. Unde the new law anyone who “insults the reputation of the state or its position” is now considered a terrorist, punishable by to up to 20 years in jail. Dr. Ali Alyami, the Executive Director of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights in Saudi Arabia, discusses the motives of this legislation with the Voice of Russia.

Could you please explain to us this new piece of legislation? It was approved by the Cabinet back in December. But was there a time to talk about it, to discuss it or maybe to overrule it?

There are a couple of laws that were rectified by the King in the last two or three days. The one that was issued in December of last year was severely criticized by domestic people and also by the entire national media. And then on the eve of the president’s of the US visit to Saudi Arabia the King decided to rectify this and make it to the Saudi law.

The idea behind all of these laws are pretty defective actually. The fact that the government stated that it is objective is to deter and punish terrorist or terrorist-to-be when in fact they don’t need any homage because Saudi Arabia’s system is absolute system and there are no codified laws, it is a religious based judicial system and the judges could do whatever they want to do. …more

Rumours of reshuffling in Saudi Arabia
Voltaire Network – 4 February, 2014

King Abdallah of Saudi Arabia is supposedly on the verge of overhauling his foreign policy and preparing his succession, according to rumors circulating in London and Geneva.

With this in view, his intelligence chief Prince Bandar Ben Sultan has allegedly been accused of suffering from cognitive problems following an attack of which he was the victim in July 2012, whereas Prince Saoud al-Faiçal, the Foreign Minister for 38 years, is said to be affected by senility.

For a week, various sources have reported Prince Bandar’s hospitalization in the United States to undergo surgery. During this time, a special emissary was purportedly sent by Washington to Riyadh for talks with the King and his son. …source

Obama to visit Saudi Arabia in March
By David Nakamura – 3 February, 2014 – Washington Post

President Obama will make his second trip to Saudi Arabia in March, the White House announced Monday, in a bid to reassure a key U.S. ally about the administration’s policies in the Middle East.

Obama will meet with King Abdullah during the trip, which was tacked on to the end of a three-country tour of Netherlands, Belgium and Italy, where Obama will meet Pope Francis. The Wall Street Journal first reported the trip last week, citing Arab officials who said the relations between the two governments was “deteriorating.”

The president’s trip comes after Secretary of State John F. Kerry visited Saudi officials in January. …more

HM the King issues four laws
4 February, 2014 – BNA

(BNA) – His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa today issued four laws for this year.

According to Law 1, Article 214 of Penal Code of 1976 was amended as follows:

“A prison sentence of a minimum of one year and a maximum of two years, and a fine of not less than BD 1000 and not more than BD 10000 shall be the penalty for any person who offends publically the Monarch of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the national flag or emblem, and the penalty shall be tightened if the offence was committed in the presence of the King.”

In Law 2/2013, HM the King ratified the by-law of the GCC Emergency Management Centre.
…source

Amnesty International censures KSA over controversial law
4 February, 2014 – Shia Post

Amnesty International has censured Saudi Arabia over a controversial counter-terrorism law, calling it the kingdom’s new tool to crush peaceful expression.

The UK-based rights body says the new Saudi law legalizes a range of ongoing human rights violations.

In a Monday statement, Amnesty’s Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa Said Boumedouha said, “This disturbing new law confirms our worst fears – that the Saudi Arabian authorities are seeking legal cover to entrench their ability to crack down on peaceful dissent and silence human rights defenders.”

This came after Saudi Arabia put into effect the controversial counter-terrorism law that allows Riyadh to prosecute as a terrorist anyone who demands reform, exposes corruption or protests against the kingdom’s policies.

“Passing a law with so many serious flaws two years after identical issues with the earlier draft were pointed out does not bode well for the authorities’ plans to end long-standing violations in the name of counter-terrorism. The changes made to the law since 2011 have done little to diminish the potentially devastating impact on human rights. The legislation just seems to codify the Ministry of Interior’s repressive tactics, which Amnesty International has documented for years,” the statement added.

The law, passed by the council of ministers and ratified by King Abdullah in December last year, went into effect on Saturday.

The legislation, made up of 40 clauses, states that any action that “undermines” the state or society, including calls for change of government in Riyadh, can be tried as a terrorist act. The law also gives security forces and intelligence agencies sweeping powers to raid homes and track phone calls and Internet activity.

A large number of activists, clerics, judges and journalists have been jailed in Saudi Arabia for voicing their opposition to the kingdom’s policies.

Over the past 10 years, Saudi Arabia has also arrested thousands of people and accused them of being involved with al-Qaeda. …more

“True to its origins as a Western intelligence asset, al-Qaeda is helping to create an illusion in Syria that will enable US weapons supply to the militants to continue,”

Re-inventing al-Qaeda as ‘good guys,’ huh?
4 February, 2014 – By Finian Cunningham – PressTV

The titular head of al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has reportedly disavowed the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Videos emerged over the weekend of the Egyptian-born leader denying any organizational links with the ISIS.

The British Guardian reported that the move by the top al-Qaeda commander was an attempt to “reassert control” over the disparate militant groups fighting in Syria.

Later in the same report, the newspaper inadvertently hinted at the real motive for the initiative. “The internecine fighting – among the bloodiest in the three-year conflict – has undermined the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad and dismayed western powers pushing for peace talks,” reported the Guardian.

Forget the bit about “dismayed western powers pushing for peace talks.” That’s hogwash. The key phrase is “internecine fighting has undermined the uprising [sic] against President Bashar al-Assad.”

By “uprising,” the Guardian is euphemistically referring to the covert criminal war sponsored by the West against the Syrian government and its people. This is not an uprising or civil war; it is Western state-sponsored terrorism for regime change using foreign mercenaries of varying affiliation to al-Qaeda – the latter itself being historically a Western, Saudi intelligence creation from the late 1970s onwards.

The political problem for the West is that it cannot be seen to be overtly supporting the al-Qaeda brigades. That would very publicly destroy the last vestiges of the so-called War on Terror and 9/11 propaganda myth.

Previously, Washington and its allies have got around that contradiction by claiming that they have been supporting “moderate rebels” in Syria as opposed to the backbone of foreign mercenaries belonging to al-Qaeda. That sleight of hand ran into terminal problems when the “moderates” of the so-called Free Syrian Army were decisively pushed out of the picture at the end of last year by the “extremists.” …more

From Egypt, Ukraine, the Turkish-Syrian border, Cuba and Thailand

Manufacturing Opposition Movements
by Andre Vltchek – 3 February, 2014 – Dissent Voice

Government buildings are being trashed, ransacked. It is happening in Kiev and Bangkok, and in both cities, the governments appear to be toothless, too scared to intervene.

What is going on? Are popularly elected administrations all over the world becoming irrelevant; as the Western regime creates and then supports thuggish ‘opposition movements’ designed to destabilize any state that stands in the way of its desire to fully control the planet?

*****

They are shouting and intimidating those who want to vote for the moderately progressive government that is presently leading Thailand. There is no dispute over the electoral process – voting is generally free, as both international observers and most of the local Election Commission members agree.

Freedom, legitimacy or transparency is not what is at stake now.

The rhetoric varies, but in essence, the ‘protesters’ are demanding the dismemberment of the fragile Thai democracy. Most of them are paid by the upper-middle and upper classes. Some of them are thugs, many hired for around 500 Baht a day (roughly US$ 15) in the villages of the restive southern provinces of the country. They are accustomed to the use of violence, their body language and facial expressions clearly show it.

Government officials of the legitimate government have to climb over blockades, or beg protesters to allow them to enter their own offices.

People who came to vote in the pre-election round were intimidated and insulted, and one man was almost strangled to death.

While life in the capital has been fully disrupted, the government does not dare to send in tanks or the police to clear the streets. It should. But it is too scared of the army and the monarchy – two pillars of this outrageous hybrid of savage capitalism and feudalism – comparable only to even worse regional nightmares, such as Indonesia and the Philippines.

It is all in the open now: the government speaks of its fear, while the military sends poisonous threats through the lackey media and through ‘leaks’.

What is happening and what is at stake? The Prime Minister’s older brother, Thaksin Shinawatra, while he was PM himself, attempted to bring in a modern capitalist system to this submissive and deeply scared nation. And not only that: he housed the poor, introduced an excellent free universal medical care system (much more advanced than anything ever proposed in the United States), free and very advanced primary and secondary education, and other concepts deemed dangerous to the world order, and to the local feudal elites, as well as the army. …more

The war against Syria and the illusion of compromise
By Ghaleb Kandil – 2 February, 2014 – Voltaire.net

Some politicians believe that Russia and the United States agreed on compromises in the region, and that everything that happens politically and militarily in Syria is part of a scenario to implement these arrangements.

In fact, international relations are going through a transitional period that will see the outlines of a new balance of power. These new equilibrium were able to emerge through the resistance of the Syrian state against the colonial aggression led by the United States. It is clear that the US unilateral post-domination era is under construction. The rules of the new Cold War are not yet definitively drawn. Recognition by the United States at the end of its unilateral hegemony is accompanied by continued attempts to influence the new equations that are emerging.

It is in this context that fit US and Western pressures and interference in the backyard of Russia. Ukraine crisis is the best example of this attitude, as well as the continuation of the partnership between the United States and Saudi Arabia, to prolong the bloodshed in Syria, in the hope of changes for the benefit their agents of balance of power relations underlie all coming political compromise.

These are the realities emerging from the Geneva II Conference, where Americans have negotiated indirectly with the Syrian official delegation, through a delegation established by its ambassador in Damascus Robert Ford. It is in this same context that was taken the decision to exclude Iran from this conference, which was a message to Russia, worthy of the time of the unilateral hegemony through orders given to the Secretary General of the United Nations. The reform of this organization and the rebalancing of relations within it are also unavoidable conditions for establishing a multipolar world.

In this transitional period, the confrontation continues to develop new relations between international powers, and Syria is the mirror of the new international order. The belief in the existence of supposed international arrangements and a serious American will to fight against terrorism, is a pure illusion. Worse, it can distort the calculations and produce erroneous analyzes. …more

Shia wanted over Saudi protests surrenders: Police
2 February, 2014 – ABNA

A Saudi man wanted in connection with peaceful protests in 2011 among the Shia Muslim minority in the conservative, Sunni-majority kingdom has handed himself in, police said on Sunday.

Musa Jaafar Mohammed al-Mabyuq surrendered to police in the mostly Shia district of Qatif, in Eastern Province, a police spokesman said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

Mabyuq “will be dealt with according to legal procedures,” the unnamed spokesman said, praising “the constructive role of his family” in the surrender, without giving further details or saying when he had given himself up to the authorities.

The unrest in Eastern Province started after an outbreak of violence between Shia pilgrims and religious police in the Muslim holy city of Medina, in western Saudi Arabia, in February 2011.

The protests escalated when Riyadh led a force of Gulf troops into neighbouring Bahrain the following month to help crush Shia-led pro-democracy demonstrations in the tiny Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom.

Eastern Province is home to most of the kingdom’s two million Shias, who represent 10 percent of the Saudi population. …more

Bahrain high court jails 13 anti-regime activists
3 February, 2014 – Islamic Invitation Turkey

Bahrain’s high court has handed long jail terms of up to 15 years to 13 activists, as the Al Khalifa regime steps up its crackdown on demonstrators.

The court issued the verdicts on Monday after convicting the defendants of allegedly possessing Molotov Cocktails, burning tires and attending illegal gatherings in the Salihiya district of the capital, Manama.

The development comes less than a week after Bahrain’s Justice and Islamic Affairs Ministry filed a lawsuit against the Islamic Scholars Council, which is a Shia body, calling for the dissolution of the group and the confiscation of its assets.

The ministry claimed in the lawsuit that the Islamic Scholars Council has been engaged in political activities that “threatened the security of the Arab kingdom.”

Bahrain’s main opposition bloc, the al-Wefaq National Islamic Society, has censured the move, saying “the regime has declared war on Shias.”

A number of Bahraini scholars and clerics have also signed a petition to the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in protest at the decision.

Since 2011, anti-regime demonstrations have been held almost every day in Bahrain.

On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were called in to assist the Bahraini regime in its crackdown on peaceful protesters. According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested.

International human rights organizations have repeatedly slammed the Manama regime for the excessive use of force against peaceful protests. …more

Bahrain: strong>