12th/ 13th/ 14th July 2013

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain warns against Egyptinspired protests
Bahrain's Shiite-led opposition on Sunday slammed the Sunni-ruled government for warning people against joining protests that are planned for next month and named after Egypt's "Tamarod" rebellion movement. "The people have the right to protest peacefully" on August 14 to mark the 42nd anniversary of British forces pulling out of the Gulf kingdom, said the Al-Wefaq movement. Al-Wefaq urged the authorities not to use the demonstrations as a pretext to crackdown on the opposition and launch widespread arrests. "This will not solve the political crisis. The solution is in satisfying the people's aspirations for liberty, social justice and democracy," said the Shiite movement. Read More precautionary measures to protect the security of the people and of public and private property throughout Bahrain." The ministry warns people not to respond to "incitement from political events and social media posts that use the title August 14 Rebellion and that encourage the overthrow of the government," adding that rallies and activities that affect security, general order, civil peace and the interest of the people are against the law. Read More A terrorist group placed the bomb in the Janabiya area, the ministry said, adding that one suspect has been arrested and efforts are underway to arrest the others. The same group targeted a police patrol jeep few weeks ago, the ministry said. Read More

Bahrain warns against seditious calls

Bahrains Interior Ministry has warned against the seditious Rebellion August 14 calls that encourage the overthrow of the government. The ministry said in a statement: Out of a responsibility to protect the security and stability of the nation and the legal duty to citizens and residents, the

Interior Ministry warns people not to respond or react to incitement from political events and social media posts that use the title Rebellion August 14 and that encourage the overthrow of the government. Rallies and activities that affect security, general order, civil peace and the interests of the people are against the law. Participants will have legal procedures taken against them. Read More as part of a 29-month uprising by Bahrains Shiite majority seeking a greater political voice in the strategic Sunni-ruled kingdom, which is home to the U.S. Navys 5th Fleet. The Interior Ministry said Sundays homemade bomb exploded in Janabiyah, a mostly Shiite area northwest of the capital Manama. Read More uses the term to refer to Shiite anti-government protesters.

Bahrain steps up security ahead of rebellion movement call

Bahrain has stepped up security and plans to impose tough punishments against participants of the "August 14 Rebellion." As the online movement gains popularity among opposition groups and antigovernment supporters, the Interior Ministry said Sunday "Security forces have taken all

Bahrain blast injured 4 policemen in latest bombing

Authorities in Bahrain say a bomb explosion has injured four policemen in the latest blast targeting security forces in the violencewracked Gulf nation. Anti-government factions have increased bombings

Bahrain policemen wounded in bombing

A home-made bomb wounded four Bahraini policemen outside a Shiite village, the kingdom's interior ministry said yesterday. The bomb was "planted by terrorists" near Janabiyah village, west of Manama, the ministry said. It often

The device was remotely detonated, the Al Ayam newspaper cited a security ofcial as saying. Police said that security forces arrested "one terrorist" who had been involved in preparing the bomb that exploded late on Saturday. Read More

Bomb goes off in Bahrain, injuring 4 policemen

Four Bahraini policemen were injured in a bomb explosion in a Shiite village in the west of capital Manama on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said.

stance with some other countries in the region.

Bahrain policemen wounded in bombing

Britain has been accused of operating double standards for turning a blind eye to human rights violations in Bahrain, while taking a much tougher

Nazeeha Saeed, a Bahraini journalist who was detained and tortured by her own Government, said that it was time the international community took stock of the human rights abuses going on there. Read More (subscription needed) Washington planned to double its presence in the region amid escalating tensions with Iran. The new hardware will support maritime security operations carried out by the Fifth Fleet and by spring its size is likely to have increased to ten ships based permanently in Bahrain. Read More

A climate of change
ON FRIDAY AFTERNOONS two years ago, the picture on Arab television screens developed a curious habit of multiplying. It would split in two, then three, then more and more lookalike frames. At the end of noon prayers, as mosques emptied in sequence across four time zones, news teams in city after city beamed up dramatic imagery that was strikingly similar. The same vast, joyous, ag-waving crowds surged into the Pearl Roundabout in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, thronged the Tahrir Squares

of Sanaa, the Yemeni capital, and of Egypts great metropolis, Cairo, and swarmed the beachfront at Benghazi in Libya and the leafy avenues of Tunis. Everyone was chanting the same refrain: The people demand the fall of the regime. There were many such days in the spring of 2011, as if a hidden conductor had orchestrated a panArab symphony of protest, and the uprising did bring momentous change. Before it began to stir in December 2010, the worlds 350m Arabs had seemed oddly immune to the democracy bug that had infected most corners of the globe. Read More

Time for Plan B

A number of events in July again highlighted the difcult situation a two-year old anti-government uprising is posing for the US naval presence in Bahrain. It was reported that three US surveillance ships had docked in Bahrain as