BAHRAIN – News

BAHRAIN GOVERNMENT COERCING ASIAN EXPATS TO SUPPORT ITS RALLIES?:

“BAHRAINI POLICE DO NOT STEAL” SAYS INTERIOR MINISTER (OR BEAT, KICK OR ABUSE PROTESTERS?):

VETS ADMIT TEAR GAS BOTH FATAL AND TOXIC FOR PETS – BUT NOT HUMANS APPARENTLY?:

BASSIOUNI LOSES CREDIBILITY WITH OPPOSITION AS HE SUPPORTS F1 WITH “OUT OF TOUCH” COMMENTS:

TIMELINE – 22nd February 2012 12.28 GMT:

A pro – Government rally, estimated to be around 80,000 people, assembled infront of the Grand Mosque in Juffair yesterday, Tuesday, to express their support for the regime under that auspices  of the Al Fateh Awakening Movement.

Former MP Mohammed Khalid claimed,”This is the people’s movement and not a political movement”. However, King Hamad, in a “non-political move”, took time off from his busy schedule to send yet another “cable of congratulations” to those who participated.  The King expressed his appreciation for all those who worked hard to “maintain the Kingdom as an oasis for peace and security for all from different sects and religions”.

Judging from the number plates, many of those attending were from Saudi Arabia and there were no reports of any of them being “barred from entry” or being “deported” as had happened with international supporters of the Opposition the week before.

Getting sufficient numbers to promote the Government rally seems to have been a bit of a problem though, as, according to the BBC , a number of Bangladeshi expatriates in Bahrain have complained that they were coerced into taking part in the pro-government rally.

When asked about this the Bahrain Government declined to comment.

There are an estimated 100,000 Bangladeshi expatriate workers in Bahrain, plus 300,000 Indians, 60,000 Pakistanis and about 30,000 Nepalis.

Fazlul Karim, president of the Society for Bangladeshi Workers in Bahrain, claimed that some expatriates in the capital had recently been forced to take part in pro-government rallies and had afterwards been attacked by Shia protesters. Some shopkeepers said that they had not been able to leave their homes for 3 days.

“We are a little worried,” Mohammed Sayeed, the President of the Bahrain Bangladesh Society said. “If the situation gets any worse thousands of people will want to leave.”

A short video clip of what appear to be “Asian Bahraini Government Supporters” is HERE:

The Gulf Daily News report  says that “many cars were abandoned on roads and pavements [on Tuesday before the rally], but traffic police were out in force”.

Let’s hope the traffic police applied the same rules as they did last week on the day before the February 14th anniversary when several motorists who abandoned cars when trying to get to the Pearl Roundabout were “detained in police custody for a week” and also had their driving licences and cars confiscated.

“Legal procedures have been taken in the case of several drivers who were referred to Public Prosecution, which ordered them to be detained for seven days and their vehicles and driver’s licences confiscated after they purposely delayed the movement of traffic on the highway,” said Colonel Shaikh Abdulrahman.

Colonel Abdulrahman urged all motorists to abide by Bahrain’s traffic laws.  It is awaited with interest to see whether the Colonel applied similar harsh penalties to pro-government supporters who blocked the roads at yesterday’s rally.

“BAHRAINI POLICE DO NOT STEAL” SAYS INTERIOR MINISTER (OR BEAT, KICK OR ABUSE PROTESTERS?):

Police impartiality, or lack of it, is also an issue often raised by Opposition supporters – and with much justification according to the many videos seen by this website.

Police officers, particularly “mercenaries” employed from other countries, have frequently been reported detaining people and removing their phones and money and not returning them. On other occasions riot police have broken into houses searching for protesters and are accused of stealing money, jewellery and electronic goods among other things. 

Other people, after being detained by the Ministry of the Interior, have lost valuable items such as Ipads and cameras.

Nabeel Rajab of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, who was detained by police for several hours last week, had his phone confiscated.  Yesterday he Tweeted that despite the fact that he is travelling today, the police have refused to give it back.

(EDITOR: The police have had more than enough time to download all the data, names and phone numbers from Nabeel’s phone surely!).

Frankly, the police, particularly the “mercenaries”, who many in the Shia population now see with contempt, are a law unto themselves and out of proper control. This video clip, illustrates the point.  In it you will see a “mercenary” spend ages trying to break into a small 4 X 4 with a metal rod and then in the end just smashes the window to steal goods anyway.  Click HERE:

As for police brutality, which they blatantly fail to hide (EDITOR: Apart from that which frequently goes on behind closed doors), videos of this are endless.

Just one such incident from last October, HERE:

On Monday, the Minister of Interior  Lt-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa received Mr Luigi Narbone, the head of EU delegation in the region.

At the meeting the Minister affirmed that “Bahrain was working to achieve security and stability through law enforcement and following human rights principles”.

The Minister also said on Monday that “Bahraini Police do not steal”. A catalogue of abuse can be seen HERE:

VETS ADMIT TEAR GAS BOTH FATAL AND TOXIC FOR PETS – BUT NOT HUMANS APPARENTLY?:

Double-speak seems to come naturally to the Ministry of Interior (MOI), who frequently claim that tear-gas is used only used for non-lethal crown control and momentarily disabling but “harmless”.

Not “harmless” for another victim yesterday, Rose Nisha Varghese, 28, of Indian descent who fell into a coma a month ago following an asthma attack brought on by tear gas inhalation in her home. Ms Varghese, who worked for Avis car hire, died in hospital a day before her company were due to return her to India for additional specialised treatment.

Not “harmless” either apparently to Bahrain’s wildlife and pets according to the kingdom’s vets, who have now advised the owners of birds and dogs in particular to keep them indoors in areas where tear gas is regularly released into the atmosphere.

The veterinarians say tear gas can be fatal to birds, with their small lung capacity and cause “serious complications” in dogs.  Cats apparently are “better equipped as they perspire through their skins and can ventilate anything toxic that enters its body”.

With dogs, “a thick concentration of tear gas can affect their nervous system, causing facial spasms and convulsions that may lead to death”and they are vulnerable to unforeseen allergic reactions such as vomiting, colic pain” reports the Government newspaper Gulf Daily News.

All of these same symptoms have been reported by humans suffering from tear gas inhalation in Bahrain, especially when grenades are fired directly into people’s homes.

Responding to American police chief John Timony’s recent claim that he believes they are using “less tear gas now” in Bahrain, Medea Benjamin, a human rights activist recently arrested and deported from the island, has written a definitive article on her “tear gas experience” HERE:

BASSIOUNI LOSES CREDIBILITY WITH OPPOSITION AS HE SUPPORTS F1 WITH “OUT OF TOUCH” COMMENTS:

Mohammed Cherif Bassiouni, the  Chairman of the BICI inquiry and author of its report, finally lost any last shred of credibility he had this week with the Opposition, when he sent a letter this week to Zayed R. Alzayani, the BIC Chairman, “congratualting” him on the decision to go ahead with the F1 Grand Prix in April, particularly under the header banner of “unity”.

“The Grand Prix,” Bassiouni goes on, “Is a significant national event, which is of great interest to a substantial percentage of the population and all of its communities. Aside from the economic, publicity and public relations advantages that the Grand Prix brings to Bahrain it is …. an important point of departure for the People of Bahrain to forge ahead in their national efforts towards reconciliation.”

As the F1 jamboree is regarded by many in the poorer Shia community as an elitist event which few of them can afford to attend, even if they wanted to, Bassiouni’s remarks will be seen as showing just how “out of touch” he is with Opposition aspirations and far from uniting people it will encourage the false belief that “everything in Bahrain is normal”.

Others will see Bassiouni’s letter as a complete betrayal of his supposed independence and neutrality.  You can Bassiouni’s full letter, HERE:

It remains to be seen how “unifying” the F1 Grand Prix will be. (EDITOR: Not much in my view!)

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1st THE GOOD NEWS – NO MORE WOMEN PROTESTERS IN PRISON – BAD NEWS -  SHAM TRIALS CONTINUE:

LACK OF TRUST COULD LEAD TO ESCALATION IN VIOLENT CONFLICT:

TIMELINE – 21st February 2012 13.36 GMT:

Well, first the good news. With the release of Zanaib Alkhawaja yesterday, there are (as far as we know) no further female protesters held in custody by the Bahrain Government.

However, there are still a number of women, doctors and teachers among them, still to return to court on charges arising from exercising their right to self expression.  The sooner the sham trials for these women (and their male counterparts) are ended the better.

Additionally, yesterday the Lower Criminal Court also acquitted former Al wefaq MP Mattar Mattar of all charges against him. 

However, to reach that decision Mr. Mattar spent around 100 days in prison, 45 days in solitary confinement and endured various kinds of ill treatment.

There is also the “small matter” of Ali Saqr who was tortured to death to give a false evidence against Matar on TV. Ali Saqr’s killer is still free.

Matar had been accused of “illegal gathering”, “instigating hatred against the regime” etc – the usual paranoid stuff.

Mattar described the decision as a “right step” but pointed out that there still need to be huge steps in repairing the judiciary in Bahrain.

The judiciary, as with the police, the government, government departments, hospitals and employers, private or state, have dissipated any trust that there may have been between them and the bulk of the population.

LACK OF TRUST COULD LEAD TO ESCALATION IN VIOLENT CONFLICT:

As Abdulla Aljanahi @aljanahi pointed out in a Tweet this morning: “A relationship with no trust is like a cell phone with no service, all you can do is play games.”

At that is the situation Bahrain finds itself in – increasingly violent games between young protesters and the security forces.

Not that this is unexpected. As Lamees Dhaif points out in her thoughtful article there are divisions between hardliners and reformers in the Government and the protesters have invested in a year of protests – all too much for anyone to step back.

The only way out of this is serious, open dialogue leading to real, genuine political and human rights reform where everyone is equal. The alternative is too dreadful to contemplate and will turn Bahrain into a tenth rate Gulf backwater rather than the leading centre it should be.

At the moment the Al-Khalifa Government is still not getting this and continues to brazen things out, spending vast amounts of money trying to convince the world that “everything is normal”, “all under control”, just a bunch of “young kids hassling the police” as Bernie Ecclestone said.

Any thinking person in the rest of the world knows that is not true.

There is a real division and a danger of hardened and permanent sectarian strife.

As long as the Bahrain Government perpetuates the “all okay” myth, the protesters will seek to undermine it.

The F1 is a case in point. There is another thoughtful piece from the Telegraph’s Formula One Correspondent, Tom Cary, in which he weighs up the pros and cons of supporting the Grand Prix in Bahrain and eventually comes down on the side of attending.

But as he implies in his concluding line – “Now, where’s my insurance?” – he may just end up reporting on something other than motor sport.

As part of the heavily promoted (and expensive) lead up to the F1 event, the Government has also organised its seventh “Spring of Culture” and invited well known (and costly) singers such as Andrea Bocelli, Julio Inglesias and many others. Perhaps they are unaware of the problems in Bahrain, or maybe they don’t care.

At least Marcel Khalife, the Lebanese oud player, has a conscience and has issued a statement saying why he has declined his invitation.  You can read more about all this in an interesting article from Miranda Diboll, who has lived in Bahrain as an expat and knows what she is talking about, HERE:

As with F1, I think the “Spring of Culture” could produce more than just fireworks of the entertaining kind. The Opposition, especially the youngsters, are very creative and will come up with a whole host of ways to express their objections to the legitimising of Bahrain’s oppressive Government. 

Let’s hope they don’t get their hands on a tear gas grenade launcher and grenades!  There could be tears all round.

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PRIME MINSTER: “THE KINGDOM IS A HUB OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND DEMOCRACY” (HYSTERICAL LAUGHTER FROM VILLAGES AROUND MANAMA):

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVIST SHOCKED BY WEEK SPENT IN TEAR GASSED VILLAGES:

BIC: IF OUR EMPLOYEES WERE TORTURED AT F1 CIRCUIT “IT WAS WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE, INSTRUCTIONS OR ORDERS”:

BAHRAIN COURTS PERSIST IN STUPID LEGAL GAMES AND MANOEUVRES AS OPPOSITION RESISTANCE CAMPAIGN CONTINUES                                                                                                  

  TIMELINE – 20th February 2012 13.57 GMT:

It seems the Prime Minister of Bahrain, Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, now more than 40 years in office, has been imbibing something mind altering as well, judging from statements made yesterday to senior officials, including the heads of Islamic Affairs and Shura Councils.

Commenting on domestic affairs, according to the official Bahrain News Agency (BNA), the Prime Minister “affirmed that the kingdom is a hub of freedom of expression and democracy, a reality that no ‘sincere’ and honest person can deny”.

The Prime Minister seemed puzzled, asking the assembled group why some people cannot “accept a crystal-clear reality that the kingdom is a beacon of reform and democracy”.

EDITOR: Er, well Mr Prime Minister maybe that is because the kingdom is not “a hub of freedom of expression and democracy” or a “beacon of reform”. If it were your streets would not be filled by people demanding it.

You may in your deluded state genuinely believe what you say, but if so I suggest you speak directly to the journalists and human rights observers you have excluded from the kingdom and the villagers pounded with tear gas every night for doing little more than sitting on their roofs and chanting – that’s freely expressing yourself.

That you may not agree with what they say is beside the point.  In fact there is no “freedom of expression” unless there is a right to disagree and an agreement to respect disagreement from whichever side it comes. 

And that is a fundamental of democracy too – that and the right to vote Prime Ministers and governments in and out of office whenever the majority wish!

(EDITOR: Incidentally, the Google Translate English version of the the original Arabic report came up with the line “… during a meeting with phallic Palace this morning …”. What do they mean?)

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVIST SHOCKED BY WEEK SPENT IN TEAR GASSED VILLAGES:

Perhaps the Prime Minister should spend a week in one of the Shia villages surrounding Manama as human rights activist Elaine Masons (nee Elaine Murtagh) from Ireland has just done before she was abruptly deported for not complying with her tourist visa conditions.

Elaine, who has campaigned actively on behalf of protesters in Bahrain over the last twelve months, did not come to Bahrain to lead a march, but to experience for herself what it is like to live in one of the poorer villages surrounding the capital, Manama.

She certainly got that. Elaine who regularly runs marathons, is shocked by what she experienced and is now “finding it a struggle to get up stairs”.

Her hurting throat is “burnt”, a doctor tells her, from tear gas inhalation.  Elaine intends to get a full check up once she is back in Ireland.

Elaine spoke with many people during her visit. Families who told her of the nightly tear gas bombardment and the raids on their homes.

A teenager who was picked up, like many others, by men in plainclothes with unmarked cars, taken to a place of detention and threatened, cut and sexually abused, leaving him terrified – no doubt the intention.

Elaine went on to describe some of the villages she passed through as “like a warzone” and it is now not possible to easily enter or leave Sanabis for example without going through a police checkpoint.

One of the most disturbing aspects of this situation, apart from a deep distrust of the police, is that injured people are now afraid to seek medical help at Government run hospitals for fear of being arrested or mistreated. 

There are frequent reports of plainclothes, but believed to be policemen, sitting in hospital wards and even being present in operating theatres to monitor who is there and what is going on.

As a consequence many are not getting the medical treatment they need or deserve, relying on over the counter pharmacy drugs and forgoing  more professional care and treatment.

Elaine reported on one young man who reputedly was thrown from the third floor of a building by security forces last Monday.  He has an horrific injury(EDITOR: Graphic Image) to his foot, which 3 days later remains as an open fracture with severe inflammation.

(EDITOR: If you have sustained an injury in #Bahrain but were too scared to visit a hospital please email your testimony to testimony@doctorsinchains.org  It will help to get international coverage for this.)

You can read more of Elaine’s Bahrain visit, courtesy of John Horne, EAWorldView, HERE:

A few days ago, Tom an expat who has lived in Bahrain for many years contacted me to relate how he had counted tear gas grenades being fired into one small village at the rate of more than 200 an hour ( see below – report 16th February ) and how he was appalled by that. 

Confirmation of this can be seen in this video clip, where the only “crime” is sitting on the roof and chanting “Allahu Akbar (God is Great)” and “Yasqot Hamad (Down with Hamad)”. Click HERE:

BIC: IF OUR EMPLOYEES WERE TORTURED AT F1 CIRCUIT “IT WAS WITHOUT OUR KNOWLEDGE, INSTRUCTIONS OR ORDERS”:

Yesterday, in an attempt to cement the running of the 2012 F1 Grand Prix in Bahrain, the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) announced that tickets are now on sale for the event and for the next 2 weeks there will be a discount of 15% making a Grandstand seat for the weekend a mere $406  (BD 153).

The programme of events for the 3 days from 20th to 22nd April is being promoted, optimistically, as “UNIF1ED – ONE NATION IN CELEBRATION”.

EDITOR: I doubt that this is how many of the opposition protesters will feel. Even if they could afford a seat, which most can’t, many of the professionals who could have still not got their jobs back, including some who worked for BIC, almost a year after being dismissed for merely taking part in demonstrations.

The Sakhir’s circuit’s CEO, Sheikh Salman bin Isa Al Khalifa.( yes, yet another member of that family), has said that he is disappointed that Bahrain was bumped from being the first date in the 2012 Grand Prix season, to the fourth behind Australia, Malaysia and China.

He may yet be even more disappointed once opposition supporters get to work to make their views known about the inappropriate holding of this elitist event which tries to pretend to the world that “everything in Bahrain is normal”.

“Normal” would mean releasing Abduhaldi Alkhawaja,  who is now on the 12th day of a “freedom or death” hunger strike, and other democracy and human rights protesters from prison. “Normal” would mean the stopping of excessive use of tear gas now.

“Normal” would mean stopping the police from beating and injuring protesters. “Normal” would mean introducing “one man/woman, one vote” and abiding by the decision of the majority. 

“Normal” in Bahrain still has a long way to go.

The Guardian newspaper in London, has republished an article entitled “Bahrain has failed to grasp reform – so why is the grand prix going ahead?”, which it originally published on 30th January but which it quickly removed after being threatened with legal action from Bahrain.

Co-authored by Nabeel Rajab of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, the article says in essence, “The Bahraini regime does not deserve to bask in the magnanimity of hosting prestige events that seek to burnish its tarnished reputation”.

The article now continues a footnote in which BIC say that if its employees were tortured on BIC premises, i.e. at the F1 circuit “it would have been without BIC’s knowledge, instructions or orders”. You can now read the full article again, HERE:

BAHRAIN COURTS PERSIST IN STUPID LEGAL GAMES AND MANOEUVRES AS OPPOSITION RESISTANCE CAMPAIGNS CONTINUE:

Zainab AlKhawaja, Abduhaldi’s daughter, who was arrested over a week ago on charges of “illegal gathering”, though she was sitting on her own at the time, was released from custody this morning, but still has a number of charges pending against her.

And stupid legal games and repeated postponements go on over the case of Mahdi Abu Deeb, President of the Teachers Association, who has been in custody since last year when security forces threw him from the second storey of a building and then kept him incommunicado for more than a month. Mahdi appeared in court this morning but his case was once again suspended until April 2nd.

Lastly, congratulations to AVAAZ, the worldwide community of Internet protesters, whose membership has now reached 13 million!

Ricken Patel of AVAAZ reports: “In the last 30 days, our community has grown by 2.5 million people. We were already the largest political web movement ever, and yet we’re growing faster than anyone has seen before!

We’re taking more actions, winning more victories, donating more and generating thousands more media hits in one month than we used to in a year. It’s thrilling, even a little scary, especially when we see that the pace is still accelerating…

Just to give a snapshot of the last few weeks –

• 5 million of us stood up to the ACTA and SOPA internet censorship bills, helping to put SOPA on ice, and putting ACTA under threat, with the President of the European Parliament and Germany, Poland and many other countries reconsidering their positions.

• we smuggled $1.8 million worth of medical supplies into Syria when no one else could, and raised $1.5 million more in donations, while our citizen journalists provided much of the world media’s information and images.

• we generated thousands of news articles on 20 different campaigns.

• our sex trafficking hotline generated information that will result in a major set of arrests this week (can’t say which country yet).

• we raised over 4 million dollars/euros/yen online to supercharge our work, and are growing our staff team like mad to keep up with the need.

• we ran over 40 campaigns, took over 10 million actions and told 25 million friends about campaigns we care about, on everything from deforestation in Brazil to the Murdoch scandal in the UK — and made a serious impact on many of these”.

• EDITOR: WHO SAYS ONLINE PROTEST DOES NOT WORK?
  

TO SUPPORT THE AVAAZ CAMPAIGN AGAINST F1 IN BAHRAIN ADD YOUR NAME HERE:

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DELUSIONAL MOI PUTS OUT BIZARRE STATEMENT CLAIMING 19 YEAR OLD ATTEMPTED TO KILL HIMSELF:

LOL – THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF POLICE HAS ORGANISED TRAINING ON “THE ROLE OF THE POLICE IN PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS” – EH?:

KING HAMAD “WORN OUT” KEEPING UP WITH HIS CABLE SENDING SCHEDULE:

TIMELINE – 19th February 2012 13.47 GMT:

In a strange twist of mis-information, the Bahrain Government’s Ministry of Interior (MOI) put out a statement following the funeral of 19 year old Hussain AlBaqali on Friday, claiming that he had attempted to kill himself in an act of “self immolation” on January 20th.

In a further act of bizarre distortion, the MOI also claims that the boy’s father had said that this had occurred following a “family dispute” and that, “His mother confirmed the incident as well as his aunt who took him to Salmaniya Medical Complex on January 22, 2012 as documented.

Asked about the incident, the late Hussain Al-Baqali had then admitted attempting to commit suicide by self-immolation”.

Extraordinary statements by an official Government Ministry (though not surprising to the majority of the population of Bahrain) that appear to be a complete fabrication and a long way from the truth.

Opposition figures say that Hussain was accidentally set on fire when his friends ignited a row of tyres which were aimed at producing a lot of black smoke during the regime’s opening of the Bahrain Air Show at the end of January.

Suffering first and second degree burns, Hussein was reluctant to go to hospital as he knew he would be questioned, possibly tortured or mistreated, and arrested.

It is possible that the family “made up” the self immolation “story” to try and protect him but it is clearly one that the Government would prefer. This video shows what really happened, HERE:

His funeral it seems was another opportunity for the riot police to fire rounds of tear gas and rubber bullets at peaceful protesters.

LOL – THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF POLICE HAS ORGANISED TRAINING ON “THE ROLE OF THE POLICE IN PROTECTING HUMAN RIGHTS” – EH?:

The Ministry report about Husain was carried on the Bahrain Government’s official news agency website (BNA) yesterday along with other fascinating items such as “Royal Academy of Police Organises Session on Human Rights”.

Yes, the “Royal Academy of Police” held a 5 day training session on “the Role of Police in Protecting Human Rights” (EDITOR: The quotation marks in this case are theirs, not mine! And please stop laughing before you continue reading!).

From the official photograph it appears that at least 5 police officers were coerced into attending and the course will no doubt make a stunning impact on police behaviour (?).

The official report continues: “The session, in which a number of Interior Ministry’s officers participated, aimed to promote the culture of human rights among security personnel and ways of protecting them on duty”.

(EDITOR: I am not quite clear whether they mean protecting the human rights of the police officers here or of those they usually abuse?)

And finally, and no doubt of deep reassurance to the Shia population of Bahrain, the brief article concludes: “The event reflects the Interior Ministry’s strong resolve to safeguard human rights and spread their culture, as a basic component of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa’s Royal Reform Project”.

KING HAMAD “WORN OUT” KEEPING UP WITH HIS CABLE SENDING SCHEDULE:

Unfortunately, King Hamad himself was too busy to attend this training course as he was, according to the official website, rather overwhelmed in keeping up with all the daily “cable” sending that he has to do.

This time he had to send a “Get Well Cable” to the Emperor of Japan who has just had a heart by-pass operation (EDITOR: The cable might cheer him up or finish him off depending on your point of view!) and another to the President of Gambia to celebrate their “Independence Day”.

All vital jobs, I think you will agree, for the ruler of a “peaceful” kingdom where everything is “wonderful” and, according to the King’s “best friend”, F1′s Bernie Ecclestone, any problems perceived by the rest of the world are not “anything serious at all”.

So just Carry On Cabling your Highness (EDITOR: I feel a film title coming on there!) – you clearly have your priorities in the right place!

Oh, Yes, and they also, according to BNA website, managed to slip a quick dose of the in house delusional drug to the visiting Tunisian culture minister Mahdi bin Mabrook, who “asserted that the Kingdom of Bahrain is witnessing sectarian events that had nothing to do with Arab Spring which is threatening its security and stability”.

EDITOR: Well, that’s a relief then, we all know where we stand – just a little local sectarian strife!

The last word goes to the excellent Carlos Latuff:

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KING HAMAD’S “IT IS THE DUTY OF A GENTLEMAN TO PROTECT WOMEN” APPARENTLY DOESN’T APPLY TO SHIA WOMEN TEARGASSED AND PEPPER SPRAYED BY HIS POLICE MERCENARIES:

GOVERNMENT VISA RESTRICTIONS TO EXCLUDE ACTIVISTS HITS BUSINESS AND TOURIST VISITORS:

ECCLESTONE’S STUPID COMMENTS ANGER YOUNG PROTESTERS WHO LAUNCH THE “KILLED KIDS” CAMPAIGN AGAINST HIM:

TORTURED CANADIAN CITIZEN FREED FROM INDICTMENT AND ALL CHARGES DROPPED:

TIMELINE – 18th February 2012 11.27 GMT:

Anniversary protests continued in Bahrain yesterday, Friday, as demonstrators continued an attempt to march to the symbolic Pearl Roundabout, the focus of the demonstrations in February and March last year.

Yesterday it was the turn of the women who marched peacefully together in solidarity towards the roundabout accompanied by a number of women activists from overseas.

You may recall that King Hamad, in a recent interview with the German magazine Der Spiegel , justified his actions of a crackdown last year by saying,  “Also our women were very scared and it is the duty of a gentleman to protect women, so I had to protect them”.

Pity then that the “gentleman” approach does not seem to apply to the majority of the Shia women in the population, many of whom have been persecuted, beaten, lost their jobs, threatened with rape and tortured into making “confessions” when in prison.

The “gentleman” approach also seems to have passed King Hamad’s mercenary police force completely by, as they continue to threaten women in the street and tear gas them in their homes on a regular basis. 

In this photograph, a woman protester was apparently sitting peacefully but it needs 3 men and a dose of pepper spray in the face to arrest her.

Two overseas human rights activists, Medea Benjamin from the US and Elaine Murtagh from the UK (EDITOR: I was wondering why I didn’t see you at the demonstration in London last week Elaine!  Now I know!), were arrested as police broke up the women’s demonstration with tear gas and stun grenades. 

The 2 women had spent a number of days living with Shia families in the villages before joining the protest.

GOVERNMENT VISA RESTRICTIONS TO EXCLUDE ACTIVISTS HITS BUSINESS AND TOURIST VISITORS:

A number of overseas human rights activists entering Bahrain recently on tourist visas completed at the airport on arrival has prompted the Bahraini Government to withdraw this facility and insist on a visa application prior to departure from the originating country.

This is leading to all sorts of problems at Manama airport and is likely to further damage the countries tourist industry, already under strain with half empty hotels since the start of the disturbances last year.

Robert Naiman, Policy Director at Just Foreign Policy, came to Bahrain earlier this week, but got no further than the airport.

He arrived at 2.12am in the morning but not until almost 5.00 pm was he advised that the Director of Immigration had decided that he should not be granted entry and should remain in the airport until he took another flight out.

In its efforts to keep people like Robert out of Bahrain — people who want to observe the Bahrain Government’s  responses to peaceful protests — the Bahrain government has adopted a policy of suspicion towards a much wider group of visitors, especially Westerners.

Caught up in the new “filter system” at the airport were a group of British business people who were supposed to be giving a marketing presentation to a Bahraini oil company and a party of Spaniards attending a conference, at least one of whom was supposed to be a speaker. They were all very irate at the delays.

As Robert Naiman points out, if Bahrain is not prepared to allow free entry to international observers to see how they handle peaceful protests, then they obviously have something to hide.  It is also time the USA changed its stance.

“For decades, the U.S. government has backed tyrants in the Arab world at the expense of the majorities ruled over by the tyrants”, says Robert. Now it needs to use its leverage to bring about democratic and human rights reform. You can read Robert’s full article, dispatched while he was stuck in Manama airport, HERE:

In January 2011 President Obama said, when observing rapidly changing events in Egypt, “All governments must maintain power through consent, not coercion”.

However, apparently this does not apply in Bahrain where US hypocrisy finds it far more convenient to maintain a naval base there and to find ways to supply it with millions of dollar’s worth of weapons despite a Congress led moratorium on recent arms orders.

Al Jazeera’s Inside Story documents America’s hypocrisy on video, HERE:

ECCLESTONE’S STUPID COMMENTS ANGER YOUNG PROTESTERS WHO LAUNCH THE “KILLED KIDS” CAMPAIGN AGAINST HIM:

Also likely to damage Bahrain’s economy is the cancellation of the F1 motor racing Grand Prix, if this comes about. Last year’s cancellation was an estimated revenue loss to the country of nearly $500 million, almost 3% of the island’s economy.

Although cancellation affects everyone, including protesters, from taxi drivers to hotel and restaurant workers, the bigger losers are Bahrain’s international reputation and the Crown Prince controlled sovereign wealth fund, Mumtalakat, which owns the F1 Bahran International Circuit and has a large shareholding in the McClaren F1 racing team.

Mumtalakat is estimated to have suffered a lost of $130 million in 2011, on a consolidated basis, and its credit worthiness downgraded to Triple-B.  There is more information on this from Reuters, HERE:

Things have not been helped by Bernie Ecclestone’s stupid and patronising comments earlier this week on the February 14th anniversary in Bahrain that “here were a lot of kids having a go at the police.  I don’t think it’s anything serious at all”.

Apart from international opprobrium, Bernie has also earned the enmity of Bahrain’s young protesters who have now launched a campaign against him and his company, Formula One Management, featuring the photograph’s of all the dead and “murdered kids” that have been killed either from tear gas inhalation, direct hits from tear gas canisters or police brutality.

No doubt the “kids” can’t wait for Bernie and his entourage to set foot on the island of Bahrain so their can tell him personally how they feel about his comments and to show him that things are a bit more serious than he thinks.  The BBC has an up-to-date video report on F1 in Bahrain, HERE:

TORTURED CANADIAN CITIZEN FREED FROM INDICTMENT AND ALL CHARGES DROPPED:

Lastly, a piece of good news. All charges have been finally dropped against Naser Al-Raas, the Kuwait born Canadian citizen, who was given a 5 year sentence for “illegal assembly” and he is now hopefully free to leave Bahrain and to return to Canada.

Al-Raas, who has twice had heart by-pass surgery and suffers from pulmonary hypertension, accused the Bahrain authorities of torturing him in prison, including beating him on his operation chest scars.

Following an international outcry and action by Amnesty International, the Canadian authorities, this website and many others, his release has been finally obtained, proving once again that silence is not an option.

Naser issued a statement   saying, “I would like to thank Amnesty International, Amnesty International Canada and the people of Canada and all Amnesty members for fighting for me.

I’d like to thank everyone who fought for me without knowing me. I now believe in those who fight for justice. Thank you so much.”

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F1 “BATTY” BERNIE SAYS OF FEB 14 2012 “A LOT OF KIDS HAVING A GO AT THE POLICE…NOTHING SERIOUS AT ALL”:

EXPAT COUNTS TEAR GAS GRENADES BEING FIRED INTO SHIA VILLAGE AT THE RATE OF MORE THAN 200 AN HOUR:

120 INJURED THIS WEEK. MOI: “THOSE WHO BELIEVE THEY HAVE BEEN HIT BY BIRDSHOT SHOULD APPROACH THE AUTHORITIES”:

GOVERNMENT DEPLOYS NEW ARMOURED VEHICLE AND MORE HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS DETAINED:

TIMELINE – 16th February 2012 17.58 GMT:

“Batty” Bernie Ecclestone, the head of Formula One, in his usual unaware and insensitive manner, pronounced on Bahrain earlier this week saying, “I expected there was going to be a big uprising with the anniversary”.

“But I think what happened, apparently, was that here were a lot of kids having a go at the police.  I don’t think it’s anything serious at all”.

Burbling on further, Ecclestone, whose Formula One Management company is reputed to receive around $40 million a year from Bahrain as a “hosting fee”, said, “I spoke to somebody recently who has returned to Bahrain to live and he told me it was just like it was out there before the problems started”.

In a carefully staged PR exercise arranged to coincide with the February 14th anniversary Federation Internationale Automobile (FIA), motorsports ruling body, put out a press release which said, “The FIA, like many in the diplomatic community in the kingdom, the main political opposition…believes the staging of a Grand Prix would be beneficial in bridging some of the difficulties Bahrain is experiencing”.

(Interesting blog post too from Paul Weaver, one of the Guardian’s sports correspondents, who compares the Bahrain F1 situation with playing cricket in apartheid South Africa, HERE: )

EDITOR: “…a lot of kids having a go at the police. I don’t think it’s anything serious at all” and “staging of a Grand Prix would be beneficial in bridging some of the difficulties Bahrain is experiencing” clearly show just how out of touch these people are with conditions on the ground in Bahrain and the daily life of a significant majority who are teargassed almost continuously, arrested without warrants, beaten, shot at and imprisoned without trial or on false evidence and trumped up charges.

EXPAT COUNTS TEAR GAS GRENADES BEING FIRED INTO SHIA VILLAGE AT THE RATE OF MORE THAN 200 AN HOUR:

It is not just me who is saying this as an outsider ( and often accused of having “made stories up” and “lies”) but this website has received comments from an expat who has lived in Bahrain for many years and responded to my article a few days ago reporting John Timoney’s claim that the police “are now using less tear gas”.

“Yankee Tom” has written in my Comments column: “..on Saturday night [11th Feb.]I watched (and counted) while the police shot over 100 canisters at people shouting from their rooftops (about the only way most protesters can have a voice these days). 100 tear gas canisters in little over half an hour all at the one village (I stopped counting at 103).

On Sunday night the police fired another volley. This time I stopped counting at 70 but all in the space of 15 minutes and all once again aimed at the same small village. Tear gas in that quantity surely must be toxic.

And it smells here! Tear gas should be odourless and this gas smells like burnt matches. There is just no way the protesters can have a voice here with the overwhelming use of tear gas against them. It seems to be a crime here to even shout from your roof”.

Commenting further on Tuesday’s thwarted anniversary marches, “Yankee Tom” says, “Today being the anniversary they posted police on the entrances to the villages so they could shoot tear gas to prevent anyone leaving the villages. No chance of making it to Pearl Roundabout. The stench of tear gas is overpowering at times. And I don’t even live in a village”.

And commenting on the behaviour of the Bahrain Police: “Perhaps I should send you a photo of what the police drew on the walls…The protesters had stencilled pictures of their martyrs on the walls and the police pulled up and instead of painting over the pictures they drew horns and long tongues to portray these people who died as devils. They did this in broad daylight. There can be no peace here until the police are held accountable. They are a law unto themselves.

If I lived in a country my whole life but had no voice, no right to join the army or the police and yet saw people coming in and being given nice new houses and all the perks then I would most definitely be out there asking for reform.

Things here have gone badly for both sides now and this being an Arab country, neither side can back down.

 The Bahraini Government, despite running a dirty but clever campaign have still seen the truth get out”.

And commenting on the [western] expats and their understanding of the situation,Tom says: “The biggest problem here for the expats is that we have no source of truthful news. The only English papers are run and owned by the Government and so only one side is getting a say.

Most of my friends have no idea what is really happening and can only see the annoying road blockages and tyre burning but don’t understand why they are doing it. It really is the only protest they have left. If they march, they get gassed. If they shout from the roofs they get gassed. And the amount of gas is astounding!  If they could cut off the supply of tear gas then people would have a chance”.

EDITOR: For an appalling example of mindless police firing excessive tear gas, watch this video uploaded on 14th February, not a civilian in sight, HERE:

Finally Tom makes suggestions that the Government could do to improve matters, particularly in regard to the police:

“The biggest thing the government could do to end this situation is hold the police accountable. They are the thugs, robbers, vandals. The hundreds of videos that are out there and yet the government has not done anything to address the lawlessness.

Simply placing an identifying number on the helmet, the uniform and the car would mean those criminal police could be caught and thrown out. The fact that they have not done this is in my opinion the biggest mistake or simply shows they don’t care”.

EDITOR: So while the Al-Khalifas held a “family gathering”  to congratulate themselves on their “success” in suppressing demonstrations on February 14th, they would be unwise to think that the “problem” of the Opposition is either going to go away or that they can continue to hold down a large segment of the population rightly claiming their democratic and human rights. The future for both F1 and Bahrain itself still looks extremely unsettled.

120 INJURED THIS WEEK. MOI: “THOSE WHO BELIEVE THEY HAVE BEEN HIT BY BIRDSHOT SHOULD APPROACH THE AUTHORITIES”:

Following the demonstrations on Monday and Tuesday, as many as 120 people were reported injured, including some with serious wounds from birdshot, controversial ammunition that Bahraini police deny using.

Ahmed Almannai, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry said that those who believed they had been hit by birdshot “should approach the authorities to verify the nature of their injuries”.

Not very likely as most of the  wounded will be treated in village homes or private health clinics because of fear they will be arrested if they go to hospitals run by the Government.

Two policeman are also reported seriously injured in hospital with burns following a Molotov cocktail attack yesterday.  Several police vehicles have been destroyed this week.

GOVERNMENT DEPLOYS NEW ARMOURED VEHICLE AND MORE HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS DETAINED:

Well known human rights activist Nabeel Rajab was detained on Tuesday and held at a police station for questioning until 1.30 am Wednesday morning. They removed his phone and have not returned it to him.

To other well known human rights activists, Naji Fateel and Hasan Al-Jaber, were arrested as they walked peacefully towards the Pearl Roundabout on Tuesday and are still in custody.

6 other Americans from Witness Bahrain, following on from 2 of their colleagues earlier this week, were arrested Tuesday and deported in  the early hours of Wednesday morning. Another, who escaped immediate arrest, has filed a report on the event of February 14th, HERE:

Another internationally known human rights defender, Zainab AlKhawaja, arrested last weekend is being held for 7days.  Her father Abdulhadi AlKhawaja, sentenced to “life imprisonment” for his part in last years protests, is currently on a “freedom or death” hunger strike.

He collapsed last night and was given intravenous administrations without his consent and is reported by his lawyer to be “having difficulty moving and talking and seems extremely exhausted”.

AlKhawaja, who holds dual nationality with Denmark, recently sent an open letter to the Danish Foreign Minister. You can read his moving plea, HERE: 

The pristine new armoured and armed vehicles which appeared on the streets of Bahrain this week are called Cobras and are made by the Otakar company in Turkey. Some of them appear to be armed with machine guns or grenade launchers. 

The vehicles contain components from the much heavier American made Humvees, 44 of which Bahrain has on order from the US Government, though the $53 million order is currently suspended “until the human rights situation improves”.

The Cobras, being small and manoeuvrable have already been deployed in some of the Shia villages, including Sanabis.  They are driven by a 6.5 litre engine and are capable of a top speed of 72 mph (115 kmh). Further information on the Cobras, HERE:

Raids by police were made last night in Sanabis and Sitra and as many as 25 young men were arrested.

F1 GRAND PRIX IN BAHRAIN? IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES? – RIDICULOUS!  If you have not signed the AVAAZ petition, please do so now, HERE:

Recommended watching: Al Jazeera, one year one on, have produced a new documentary about Bahrain in the “People and Power” series called “Bahrain: Audacity of Hope”, HERE:

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POLICE USING TEAR GAS AND CONTAINMENT TACTICS TO PREVENT PROTESTERS GETTING NEAR PEARL ROUNDABOUT:

DELUSIONAL US POLICE CHIEF SAYS “I THINK THERE IS LESS TEAR GAS BEING USED” (AROUND HIS HOUSE MAYBE?):

FI TEAMS GETTING THE JITTERS OVER RACING IN BAHRAIN AS SAFETY CONCERNS COME TO THE FORE:

TIMELINE – 14th February 2012 13.27 GMT:

Yesterday, on the eve of the first anniversary of the February 14th Uprising 2011, thousands of protesters took part in a licensed and peaceful march along the Budaiya Highway, but things turned more difficult when a substantial break-away group headed for the Pearl Roundabout which is now protected with barbed wire and heavily guarded.

Police repelled the demonstrators with volleys of tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades and at least one protester received a serious head injury and was rushed away by friends. Tear gas eventually drove the crowds away from the area and back to their parked cars. You can see video clips of the advance towards to Pearl Roundabout HERE:  and the retreat HERE:

“We will not back down,’” said Nader Abdul Imam, who sought shelter in a house with other protesters to get away from the tear gas. This has gone on for one year and it will go for another year or more”.

In a statement, Chief of Public Security Major-General Tariq Al Hassan blamed Al Wefaq for the violence and claimed that police were pelted with rocks and Molotov cocktails.  General Hassan said legal action would be taken against the march organisers.

DELUSIONAL US POLICE CHIEF SAYS “I THINK THERE IS LESS TEAR GAS BEING USED” (AROUND HIS HOUSE MAYBE?):

In an interview, John Timoney, the former Miami Police Chief, employed by the Bahraini Government to advise on police training, said he believed that smaller amounts of tear gas were being used in Bahrain than previously.

“I have been in the company of the minister of interior and I know he’s concerned about excessive use of tear gas. I think there’s less tear gas being used. (Gas) entering your home is distasteful. But as far as (it) killing someone, there’s nothing shown to me that they died (from that)”.

“Even (for) unlicensed peaceful protest, we are trying to develop protocols to handle those. If you can keep it within certain parameters, then as long as you are not causing chaos and closing highways, then we can probably live with it”, Timoney added.

On the subject of reform of police procedures, when questioned, Timoney said, “We are in a process of revamping the entire internal investigative process.

If there is a death in police custody or serious injury, these are being seriously investigated”.

He also said that cameras would be installed in interrogation rooms as part of a new code of conduct.

“There are two long-term issues: integration in the force – getting more Shia in – and then training with the goal of really changing the culture of the organization. That takes time but the ministry of interior is committed and is in process of hiring 500 new police officers”.

What he didn’t say that the “Shia recruits” would be restricted to local areas, not part of the main force. You can read more of the interview conducted by Reuters, one of the few news organisations allowed into Bahrain at present, HERE:

The statement that “less tear gas is being used” is not evident on the ground as pictures taken as recently as today, Tuesday, show.  Police tactics in the last 24 hours have been to block entrances and exits from villages, conduct night time raids and to arrest at least 12 people in their homes overnight.

This morning, the efforts to contain protesters within their villages and to stop them advancing on the capital Manama itself continued. Two well known human rights activists, Nabeel Rajab and Said Yousif Almuhafda were stopped, detained, searched and questioned for 15 minutes in Bani Jamra village before being released.

Angered that two young girls, 14 and 15 years old have been detained for questioning today, it is claimed that some young men staged a petrol bomb attack on Sitra police station in retaliation.

All the approaches to the Pearl Roundabout are currently blocked and the Bahrain Government this morning deployed a brand new fleet of armoured and heavily armed Humvees as can be seen in this video, HERE:

FI TEAMS GETTING THE JITTERS OVER RACING IN BAHRAIN AS SAFETY CONCERNS COME TO THE FORE:

According to the Guardian newspaper, Formula One is definitely getting the jitters over running a Grand Prix in Bahrain on April 22nd. Although the F1 teams have said they are leaving the decision to the ruling motor sport body, the FIA, at Jerez in Spain last week where the racing teams undertook pre-season testing, a number of team representatives aired their concerns.

There was particular worry over the reports of Englishman Peter Morrisey, who suffered broken ribs and severed fingers in a robbery when he was sleeping in his car after visiting a late night club earlier this month. You can read the Guardian report, HERE:

To counteract the letter in the London Times a few days ago from some prominent UK politicians calling for the cancelling of  F1 in Bahrain another unofficial All-Party Parliamentary Group on Bahrain in the UK Parliament has called for it to go ahead, claiming that “the response of the government of Bahrain has been notably different” to calls to reform in other “Arab Spring” countries.

However, it has been pointed that Conor Burns MP, a prominent member of the group, enjoyed an expenses paid trip to Bahrain, worth almost $5000 and courtesy of the Al-Khalifa Government, last year.

If you haven’t already done so, sign the AVAAZ campaign to stop F1 in Bahrain, HERE:

In “commemoration” of Bahrain’s anniversary, Anonymous, the international Internet hacking group has launched “Operation Bahrain” from 13th to 15th February, staging attacks on the Bahrain Government’s official websites and also that of Combined Systems, an American corporation manufacturing tear gas for the Al-Khalifa Government.

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YATES OF THE YARD ALREADY OVERCOME BY THE SAME “DELUSIONAL DRUG” AS THE GOVERNMENT:

YATES SUGGESTS “KETTLING (CORRALLING) WOULD WORK REALLY WELL AROUND HERE”:

BAHRAIN ECONOMY BOTH, LOCALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY, UNDER STRAIN AS UNREST CONTINUES:

TIMELINE – 13th February 2012  12.37 GMT:

In an interview with London’s Telegraph, John Yates, former assistant commissioner of the UK’s Metropolitan Police and now employed by the Bahraini Goverment to advise them on policing, it appears that he has been duped and “drugged” into the same delusional state as the rest of the kingdom’s administration.

The usual symptoms are 1. A particular fondness for the minority well heeled lifestyle 2. The enjoyment of easy access to shopping and taken in by overt surface friendliness 3. The belief that opposition reaction to the status quo is just “vandalism”. 4. A belief that the King downwards “gets what needs to be done and is committed to doing it” (BICI syndrome!) 5. A belief that when he leaves, that somehow police officers will know how to behave properly and carry on (start?) doing that.

Because so far there is little sign of change.

John Yates is probably far too busy shuffling paperwork to afford the time, but a quick trawl of Twitter this morning will reveal this weekend’s police brutality.

In the first clip, loaded yesterday, an unknown young man, trussed up with rope or a scarf is literally thrown into a police vehicle where an officer clearly repeatedly hits the detainee with both his hand and a baton.  You can see it HERE:

In the second clip “well trained police officers” throw back Molotov cocktails – which admittedly have been thrown at them, but that is no excuse, HERE:

In this photograph, taken yesterday, a young man has been hit with “bird shot” pellets, all of which will have to be painfully removed and probably not inside a Government hospital for fear of arrest.

In the third clip, a young man has reputedly been thrown from the first floor of building and then continued to receive a beating from police officers.

He looks as though he is unconscious and has a serious head injury.

Finally he is rescued by a group of angry women. You can watch the clip (EDITOR: Caution, both somewhat bloody and distressing), HERE:

This is the reality of Bahrain, not the sanitised version that John Yates seems to prefer.

YATES SUGGESTS “KETTLING (CORRALLING) WOULD WORK REALLY WELL AROUND HERE”:

In the Telegraph interview he talks about tomorrow’s February 14th demonstrations and says that “The police have a pretty well rehearsed plan to deal with what will happen. Unless they face extraordinary provocation like last year, it will be about allowing people to gather and containment. It’s about learning techniques from other places like kettling – that would work really well around here”.

For the uninitiated, “kettling” (sometimes called “containment” or “coralling”) is a controversial police technique that has been used in the UK and elsewhere where a crowd is allowed to assemble and then surrounded by police lines and held there in a confined area, often without access to food, water, toilet facilities or being allowed to leave, for hours on end.

This is what the opposition groups can expect tomorrow in Bahrain, where thousands of troops and police have been drafted in to deal with the anniversary of Bahrain’s revolution.

In 2009 in London climate change demonstrators were contained in this way for hours and following a High Court ruling, it was deemed that they had been “illegally detained”.

In the Telegraph report, John Yates goes to Sitra police station and talks to the local police commander, Lt Cmdr Khalid al-Khathlan, who says, “The Shia people out there don’t know why they are doing this. They get orders on Twitter to attack at 4pm and off they go. This a political problem not a police problem.”

This has led to misrepresentation of the situation, according to Mr Yates. “I don’t get a sense of being under siege. Its not a war zone,” he said. “Even the special forces are in soft berets and jackets”.

To quote from the Telegraph, “When Mr Yates’s contract is up in April, he hopes to leave behind concrete reforms that restore some trust in officialdom. He will recommend overhauling the Criminal Investigation Department, removing the power of arrest from the intelligence agencies and introducing transparency in the police and prosecution agencies. It would help the royal government win back some ground in the battle of perceptions”.

“There’s always a fear that hiring a British cop and an American cop to come up with reform is a bit of window dressing” he says.

EDITOR: Exactly right, Mr Yates, “window dressing” (like the BICI report) is exactly what it is! I wonder how many opposition leaders you have spoken to?

The Al-Khalifa Government lost the “battleground of perceptions” months ago and will never regain it except by resigning and allowing serious democratic, constitutional, judicial and human rights reform. The sooner you get back to your “high tech racing bicycle” in London the better and the sooner this charade will end. You can read the detail of the full interview, HERE:

Hopefully, Mr Yates and his family will not have to take advantage of the “emergency plans” prepared by the British embassy in Bahrain to evacuate 8,000 UK citizens should the situation rapidly deteriorate.

Once again the well known human rights activist Zainab Alkhawaja was detained and arrested yesterday after refusing to move from where she was sitting and shouting “Down, Down Hamad”.

Zainab was taken to the Public Prosecutor’s office this morning, Monday, and charged with illegal gathering and disturbing the peace. You can see a video of her arrest, HERE:

Following the deportation of 2 American human rights activists from Witness Bahrain, who had arrived in the country on a tourist visa, completed at Manama airport, the Ministry of Interior today issued an order requiring prior visa approval for visitors from most countries, including the USA and the UK, before the date of travel.

In a more conciliatory mood King Hamad has appointed Sadok bin Abdulkarim Al-Shehabi, a member of the Shia community, as the new Health Minister.

BAHRAIN ECONOMY BOTH, LOCALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY, UNDER STRAIN AS UNREST CONTINUES:

The ongoing unrest in Bahrain continues to have an impact on its economy both in the local shops and markets and with its financial and commercial dealings both at home and abroad.

In the Manama souq shops find that they have to closer earlier because of demonstrations putting off visitors and making life difficult for traders. When protesters run through the area shouting anti -government slogans it frightens off shoppers and it is some days before the customers return, say traders.

Abdulkarim Hussain, who has a garment shop on Shaikh Abdulla Road, said he was considering closing down. “I have no more energy to carry on,” he said. “I would rather move to some other place in Bahrain.” He said he used to run three small shops in the souq, but had closed down two of them due to a lack of business. “Now I have only one and that too has no customers,” he said. You can read further details HERE:

On a larger scale, Gulf Air, the loss-making state carrier which the Government was considering closing down, down-sizing or restarting under another name, has propped up its ailing business with a loan from the Mashreq Banking Group based in Dubai for $80 million. “The facility is set to assist Gulf Air to meet its medium-term working capital requirements,” a statement said.

Investcorp, an investment fund manager based in Bahrain has also reported its profits for the six months until December 2011 dropping from a previous high of $56.2 million to just $5.3 million, putting the blame on “negative returns from hedge funds”.

The BBC has a general video overview of current financial and social conditions in Bahrain, HERE:

Following Saturday’s rally in “Solidarity with Bahrain”, here is a video of me and others giving our views at Marble Arch, London on the day.

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