Bahrain Shia opposition rejects talks to end violence
9 replies, posted
[quote=BBC][B]Bahrain's main Shia opposition group, Wefaq, has rejected King Hamad's offer of national dialogue to end days of unrest in the Sunni-ruled Gulf state.
[/B]It said the [highlight]government must resign first[/highlight] and [B]troops should be withdrawn.[/B]
Armoured vehicles have pulled out of Pearl Square, the centre of protests in the capital, Manama, and police had to fire tear gas to stop protesters trying to re-occupy it.
Protests demanding greater political rights have been violently suppressed.
At least [B]50 people were wounded[/B] on Friday following the funerals for [B]four protesters killed[/B] on Thursday.
[B]The order for Bahrain's military to leave the streets of central Manama came from Crown Prince Salman, who is the deputy commander-in-chief of the armed forces, says the BBC's Ian Pannell in Manama.[/B]
[B]Whether this is enough to tempt Wefaq into talks with the government remains to be seen[/B], says our correspondent.
Earlier, leading Wefaq member stated his group's conditions.
[B]"To consider dialogue, the government must resign and the army should withdraw from the streets," said Abdul Jalil Khalil Ibrahim, a leading Wefaq member.[/B]
Wefaq, which [B]holds 18 of the 40 seats in the parliament[/B], has [B]pulled out of parliament in protest.[/B]
Bahrain is one of several Arab countries to have experienced pro-democracy demonstrations since the fall of long-time Tunisian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali in January. Egypt's Hosni Mubarak was forced from power on 11 February.
[B]Gunfire[/B]
"What we're seeing now is not the language of dialogue but the language of force," AFP news agency quoted Mr Ibrahim as saying.
Another Wefaq member, Ibrahim Mattar, said the authorities would have to "accept the concept of constitutional monarchy" before any dialogue began.
"Then we can go for a temporary government of new faces that would not include the current interior or defence ministers," he told Reuters news agency.
On Friday, King Hamad Isa al-Khalifa asked Crown Prince Salman, to start a national dialogue to resolve the political crisis.
The prince, who earlier called on protesters to withdraw from the streets, was authorised to talk to all parties, a statement from the ruling house said.
Troops and armoured vehicles have been stationed in central Manama since protesters were cleared out of Pearl Square early on Thursday.
Friday's violence began when the funeral procession of a protester killed on Thursday turned into another anti-government demonstration.
Mourners were trying to make their way to the Salmaniya Hospital, where injured protesters were being treated, when they came under fire close to Pearl Square.
Protesters have tried to make the square, a large traffic roundabout, a focal point of demonstrations.
At one point on Friday, army units were seen firing anti-aircraft weapons over the heads of protesters. As night fell in Manama, gunfire could still be heard.
'Meaningful reform' urged US President Barack Obama has phoned King Hamad to urge restraint.
Bahrain, a close American ally and home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, must respect the "universal rights" of its people and embrace "meaningful reform", Mr Obama said.
The Obama administration will be more nervous about events in Bahrain than it was in Egypt, given the kingdom's Shia majority, says the BBC's Washington correspondent Kim Ghattas.
The US is nervous of Iran's growing regional influence and sees Sunni-ruled kingdoms like Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as a crucial counterweight.
Bahrain's Shia population has long demanded greater political representation from the ruling dynasty.[/quote]
[editline]19th February 2011[/editline]
[B]Bahrain pulls back military; protesters stand firm
[/B][URL]http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110219/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain_protests[/URL]
MANAMA, Bahrain – A prominent opposition leader [B]says the withdrawal of army tanks from Bahrain's capital[/B] [B]is not enough to open talks with rulers in the crisis-wracked Gulf nation.
[/B]
Ibrahim Sharif, head of the Waad Society, is demanding guarantees that protesters can stage rallies without fear of being attacked. Waad is an umbrella group of protest factions.
The pullback of tanks from the landmark Pearl Square on Saturday comes a day after army units opened fire on marchers streaming toward the site, which had been the symbolic center of their uprising against Bahrain's leaders. More than 50 people were injured in Friday's attack.
On Thursday, riot police surged into Pearl Square and destroyed a protest encampment, killing five people.
---
[url]http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1060788-Army-locks-down-Bahrain-and-Starpluck-police-storm-protest[/url]
[url]http://www.facepunch.com/threads/1061211-Bahrain-troops-open-fire-on-protesters-Reports-of-casualties[/url]
Yeah they aren't gonna get what Egypt had.
Their government opens fire on citizens.
WTF, they're killing innocent civilians like that? Start a civil war!
So the king wants violence to end, but the Shia want it to keep going? Thats what I'm pulling from this.
The Pearl [B]Circle [/B](or roundabout) has been retaken by anti-government forces. All news outlets refer to it as Pearl [B]Square[/B], it's not a square though.
[IMG]http://www.tampabay.com/multimedia/archive/00163/a4s_bahrain021811c_163220c.jpg[/IMG]
[URL]http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110219/wl_nm/us_bahrain[/URL]
[QUOTE=Redcow17;28148192]Yeah they aren't gonna get what Egypt had.
Their government opens fire on citizens.[/QUOTE]
All the more reason.
-snip-
:ohdear:
[editline]19th February 2011[/editline]
Stay safe starpluck
MANAMA (Reuters) – Anti-government protesters in Bahrain swarmed back into a symbolic square on Saturday, [B]putting riot police to flight in a striking victory for their cause[/B].
Crowds had approached Pearl Square in Manama from different directions, creating a standoff with riot police who had moved in earlier to replace troops withdrawn on royal orders.
Suddenly police raced to their buses, which drove away mounting kerbs in their haste to escape.
The protesters, cheering and waving national flags, ran to the center of the traffic circle, reoccupying it even before all the police had left. The crowd waved fleeing policemen through.
"[B]We don't fear death any more, let the army come and kill us to show the world what kind of savages they are[/B]," said Umm Mohammed, a teacher wearing a black abaya cloak.
Troops in tanks and armored vehicles earlier withdrew from the square, which they had taken over on Thursday after riot police staged a night-time attack on sleeping protesters who had camped out there, killing four people and wounding 231.
The crowds in Pearl Square soon swelled into the tens of thousands, celebrating a triumph for the mostly Shi'ite protesters who took to the streets on Monday, inspired by popular revolts that toppled leaders in Egypt and Tunisia.
The authorities had been determined to prevent protesters from turning Pearl Square into a base like Cairo's Tahrir Square, the heart of a revolt that ousted Egypt's Hosni Mubarak.
Bahrain's 70 percent Shi'ite majority has long felt discriminated against in the Gulf Arab island that is ruled by a Sunni Muslim dynasty and is a close U.S. and Saudi ally.
Shi'ites feel cut out of decision-making and complain of unfair treatment in access to state jobs and housing.
HOSPITAL OVERFLOWING
Sixty to 80 people were taken to Salmaniya hospital after being affected by teargas or hit by rubber bullets, a doctor said. He said the hospital was full and did not have enough oxygen to deal with the rush of casualties.
More than 60 people were already in the hospital with wounds sustained on Friday when security forces fired on protesters as they headed to Pearl Square, then still in military hands.
Bahrain's crown prince called for a national day of mourning "for the sons we have lost," the state news agency reported.
Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, called for calm, asking citizens to unite and cooperate with all political forces in the country.
"I stress, once more, that our duty is to preserve security and stability, to ensure that there is no discord and that the situation does not worsen," he said in a statement.
He had earlier announced that troops had been ordered off the streets and that police would keep order.
[B]But people power proved too strong in Pearl Square.[/B]
Some people kissed the ground in joy or started praying.
"We took this square in a peaceful manner. The Khalifa henchmen, they killed my friends here," said one protester.
On Friday, King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa offered a national dialogue with all parties to try to end the turmoil in which six people have been killed and hundreds wounded.
Hundreds of women dressed in abayas screamed "Down, down Khalifa" repeatedly outside Salmaniya hospital on Saturday.
WORD FROM OBAMA
U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to the king on Friday, condemning the violence and urging the government to show restraint and respect the rights of its people.
The crown prince's orders to withdraw the military from the streets were issued a few hours later.
"That's a very positive step," Jasim Hussain, a member of the main Shi'ite Wefaq bloc that quit parliament on Thursday, told Reuters. "They're trying to ease the tensions. I don't know whether it will be sufficient."
Wefaq had earlier rejected the king's dialogue offer, saying troops must be withdrawn first, among other conditions.
Another Wefaq lawmaker said the troop pullout was not enough by itself. "There's no difference if people are killed by the military or by the security forces," said Ibrahim Mattar.
"We hope to hear a clear message from the government that it will stop killing people who are protesting peacefully."
Mattar said the king must accept the "concept" of constitutional monarchy, as well as withdrawing the military.
"Then we can go for a temporary government of new faces that would not include the current interior or defense ministers."
He reiterated an opposition demand for the king to fire his uncle, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, prime minister since Bahrain gained its independence in 1971.
Bahrain, a minor oil producer, has long been a military ally of the West. [B]A naval base near Manama that hosts the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet helps the United States to project power across the Middle East and Central Asia, including Iraq and Afghanistan.
[/B] [B]
A Fleet spokesman said there was no significant impact on operations and Jennifer Stride, spokeswoman for the U.S. naval base, said no evacuation of families was planned.[/B]
The United States is caught between the desire for stability in an ally seen as a bulwark against Iran and the need to uphold the people's right to express their grievances.
[editline]19th February 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=Lambeth;28150108]:ohdear:
[editline]19th February 2011[/editline]
Stay safe starpluck[/QUOTE]
Thanks
[editline]19th February 2011[/editline]
[QUOTE=PrusseluskenV2;28149456]NSFW: blood/violence
[media]http://youtube.com/watch?v=fwnUQcKXmMM[/media][/QUOTE]
Yeah, this is why I'm staying indoors.
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.