7th/8th December 2012

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain: Shiite clerics must 'prohibit' violence
Bahrain's Shiite religious leaders must more forcefully denounce violence as a key step to ease the kingdom's 22-month uprising, the country's crown prince said Friday at the opening of an international security conference. The appeal by Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa underscores the view of Bahrain's Sunni monarchy that Shiite clerics should be held partly responsible for rising violence in the strategic Gulf nation. It also suggests authorities could increase pressure on top Shiite clergymen, whom he referred to as 'ayatollahs' a term more often associated with senior religious gures in rival Iran. "I call on all those who disagree with the government, including the ayatollahs, to condemn violence on the street unequivocally . And more, to prohibit violence," the crown prince told policymakers and political gures gathered for the annual two-day conference known as the Manama Dialogue. "Responsible leadership is called for and I believe dialogue is the only way forward," he added. Read More participants, agenda and duration." was held the premiership of the Sunni-ruled regime in the Gulf kingdom since 1974.

Shiite protesters demand Bahrain PM's ouster

Thousands of Shiite demonstrators in a village near the Bahraini capital on Friday demanded the premier's ouster in the rst ofcially sanctioned protest since a ban at the end of October, witnesses said. "Get out, Khalifa!" they chanted, referring to Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, an uncle of King Hamad, who

"We don't want an appointed government, we want a prime minister who serves the people," Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the main Shiite opposition grouping Al-Wefaq, told the crowd. The gathering was the rst to be ofcially allowed since the end of October when the authorities banned all protests to ensure "security is maintained." Read More delegates at the annual Manama Dialogue organised by the International Institute of Strategic Studies. Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet and strategically situated across the Gulf from Shiite Iran, has experienced unrest since February 2011, when Arab Spring-style protests led by the Shiite majority erupted. Hundreds of people were arrested when security forces aided by troops from neighbouring Saudi Arabia crushed the uprising within a month. Read More usedmartial law and help from Gulf neighbours to put down a revoltagainst alleged discrimination of Bahrain's majority Shiapopulation in March last year, but violence has resumed. Salman bin Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa said late on Friday that Bahrainshould continue politicaland judicial reforms seen as inadequate by the opposition. Read More

Bahrain crown prince urges talks with opposition

Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa on Friday called for dialogue with the mainly Shiite Muslim opposition in the Sunnidominated country, urging them to condemn violence.

Bahrain opposition welcomes talks call

Bahrain's Shiite opposition on Saturday welcomed a call for dialogue made by Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad alKhalifa, saying it was ready to talk in an effort to solve the Gulf kingdom's political crisis. The opposition, led by the main Shiite Al-Wefaq grouping, said it "looks favourably upon the appeal by the crown prince," and urged "a serious dialogue with agreement on the

"The opposition is ready to take part in a dialogue whose result must be put to the people, the source of all powers. From the very beginning, the opposition has opted for peaceful means to gain democracy."

"We had our own experience of the so-called Arab Spring On Friday, Prince Salman, last year. It divided the nation, considered a moderate within and many wounds are still to the royal family, called on for be healed," the prince told dialogue with the mainly Shiite Muslim opposition in the Sunni-dominated country, urging them to condemn violence. Read More

Bahrain seeks talks with the opposition

Bahrain's crown prince has renewedcalls for dialogue with the country's opposition,saying only talks can break a deadlock in the Gulf Arab statebeset by unrest. The ruling Al Khalifa family, who are Sunni Muslims,

Bahrain's crown prince calls for more dialogue

Bahrain's crown prince, Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, has called for dialogue with the political opposition and institutional reforms to ease the country's anti-government protests. "Security is not the only guarantor of stability. Without justice there can no freedom,

and without freedom there can be no true security," Crown Prince Salman said late Friday at a conference on Middle East security organised by the International Institute for Security Studies. "Only through the genuine application of a just and fair and inclusive legal system will people feel that their own rights and their own futures are protected," he added. Read More be ended and help push the small Gulf country towards stability.

Why did the Bahraini Crown Prince snub the USA?

The Bahraini crown prince effusively praised Britain in his speech to an international conference here Friday evening -- but barely mentioned the United States, to the surprise of his international audience. "I would personally like to thank many in the West who were very kind to me and what I have tried to achieve

by promoting dialogue between all of the disparate groups here in the kingdom of Bahrain. Your support to me has been invaluable over the difcult past 18 months," said Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa at the opening dinner of the 2012 IISS Manama Security Dialogue, referring to the internal sectarian conict that has roiled the kingdom. "However, I would in particular like to thank the diplomats, the leadership and the government of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth of the UK," he said. Read More political views represented in disparate political groups here in Bahrain must be reconciled. They will only be reconciled by sitting together and agreeing a framework where the limit of what is acceptable is the limit of what is unacceptable to the other, with the ultimate goal being to reach an agreement, Prince Salman said as he opened the Manama Dialogue on Friday evening. Bahrain has experienced sporadic political unrest since early 2011 that has deepened sectarian faults. Read More Muqsha, west of the capital Manama, on Friday to demand the ouster of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa. Get out, Khalifa! they chanted, referring to the premier who has been holding the post for the past four decades. The Muqsha demonstration was organized by the main opposition group al-Wefaq. Read More

Bahrain Crown Prince calls for dialogue, doesnt invite opposition

In a strange statement to the country, Bahrains Crown Prince called for a new dialogue with the opposition late on Friday after continued protests against the monarchy. He argued that through talks only then could a deadlock

The government of the alKhalifa family has used martial law and assistance from neighboring countries to brutally take down a revolt against their Sunni ruling government by the majority Shia population that began in March 2011. Violence, despite a brief lull, has resumed as activists and protesters reboot their efforts for change. Read More William Hague, Britain's foreign secretary, will be there along with the Jordanian foreign minister and several Gulf colleagues. So will a sprinkling of chiefs of staff and US congressmen. The Obama administration however, will only be represented by the deputy secretary of state, Bill Burns. That looks like a slight but noticeable snub. In past years Washington has always sent cabinet-level officials fitting enough for a prestigious event in a country which hosts the US Fifth Fleet. Read More

Bahrain crown prince stresses need for dialogue

Bahrains Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa has stressed that dialogue involving all sections of society is the only way forward for the nation. I believe that dialogue is the only way forward, Prince Salman said. Geopolitically, demographically and historically, the differing

Will the Manama Dialogue debate Bahrain's own crisis?

Syria's crisis will naturally be the main item on the agenda at this weekend's conference of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain. The "Manama Dialogue" named for the capital of the Gulf island state is an annual gathering of high-profile figures from the worlds of diplomacy, defence and strategy.

Anti-regime protests continue across Bahrain

Anti-regime protests have been held in several cities across Bahrain as the Al Khalifa regime continues its crackdown on peaceful demonstrations in the country. Thousands of demonstrators held a sit-in in the village of

under the slogan People are the Source of Decision. Moreover, as it pointed out that protests and peaceful calls for democracy and freedom and are a basic and legitimate right ensured by international conventions and treaties, and by the natural human right, it assured that people will stick to their demands and the peaceful movement which they presented great sacrifices for, and on top were the martyrs who gave their souls to transform Bahrain into a field of freedom, democracy and dignity. Read More

Bahraini Opposition Returns Massively to Fields

The Bahraini opposition announced organizing a massive rally Friday which will take off from Janosan Roundabout to Saar Roundabout under the slogan People Demanding Democracy. The opposition stressed that the call is an acitvation to the right of demonstrating, and invited everyone to return to the fields and join the masses

Report: What does embarking on the demolition of the "mosques" again in Bahrain means?
Hamad Town, Karzakan Alwasat, Al Wefaq, Olamaa Islamic Council The gift from Bahraini authorities to the delegation of the High Commissioner for Human Rights was so

generous this time, as usual. it received the delegation with crushing Alhodh Aljaf wards on one hand, and redemolition of mosques on the other hand, as some consider it so (Bright) proving how the authorities disregard for the rules of the rights which the internationalist delegation has came to check on, while others see that it has mysterious goals, and surrounded by political confusion in the official circles. Read More