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In Bahrain, it was another day of violence and repression as the Saudi-backed Al-Khalifa dynasty continued to clamp down on protesters demanding a better life for the repressed Shia majority.
But in Downing Street, David Cameron exchanged a warm handshake with Bahrain's Crown Prince, Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa. While other Arab tyrants feel the full force of British disapproval, Sheikh Salman is here on a mission to repair the damaged reputation of his dynasty. His visit prompted an outcry from politicians and civil rights campaigners. It came on the day when President Obama delivered his first major speech on the Arab Spring, which he said would open a "new chapter in American diplomacy". "It will be the policy of the US to promote reform, and to support transitions to democracy," he promised.
The Labour MP Denis MacShane, a former Foreign Office minister, said: "It's unbelievable, at a time when Bahrain is becoming the torture chamber of the Gulf, with terrible reports of killings and beatings, that David Cameron has even allowed the torturer-in-chief into Britain, let alone into Downing Street." Amnesty International UK's director, Kate Allen, said: "The Prime Minister ought to make it clear to Sheikh Salman that Bahrain's relations with the UK will suffer if the Bahraini authorities refuse to allow peaceful protests or conduct proper investigations into numerous allegations that detained protesters have been tortured."
The Bahraini authorities must overturn death sentences imposed on two activists for the alleged killing of two police officers during anti-government demonstrations earlier this year, Amnesty International said today.
Bahrains National Safety Appeals Court confirmed the death sentences against Ali Abdullah Hassan al-Sankis and Abdelaziz Abdelridha Ibrahim Hussain on Sunday. The court commuted the death sentences of two other men accused with them to life imprisonment.
The confirmation of the death sentences imposed on these two men is nothing short of alarming. While the Bahraini government has a responsibility to protect the public and bring to justice those responsible for committing violent crimes, the government must not let these executions go ahead.
The death penalty is the ultimate form of cruel and inhuman treatment and ought not to be used under any circumstances
We are urging King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa not to sign the execution order for these two protesters, and to commute their sentences without delay, said Malcolm Smart, Amnesty Internationals Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
To execute these two men would represent an irrevocable step and it would plunge Bahrain into an even deeper human rights crisis than it is experiencing now.
The two men were convicted, with three others, of the premeditated murder of two policemen by running them over with a vehicle on 16 March.
That day, the security forces launched a fierce new crackdown on anti-government protests following the Kings declaration of a state of emergency, termed the State of National Safety on 15 March, after bringing in Saudi Arabian troops to help quell the protests.
TEHRAN (FNA)- President of Bahrain's Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab lashed out at the death penalty decree issued against two revolutionary figures in the country, cautioning that trying civilians in martial courts is "political and illegal".
"The decree issued by a Bahraini marshal court is completely unacceptable and is considered as a political decree since the court which issued it is affiliated to Bahrain's ruling family and the decrees issued by them are not compatible with justice," Rajab told FNA on Tuesday.
He reiterated that Bahraini Minister of State for Defense Affairs Muhammad bin Abdallah Al Khalifa who chairs the martial court is a member of the al-Khalifa family embattled by the Bahraini people.
Rajab said that trying people in a martial court is inhumane because they are not provided with an attorney right and are not allowed to meet their families.
Anti-government protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations across Bahrain since mid-February, calling for an end to the Al Khalifa dynasty's over-40-year rule.
Violence against the defenseless people escalated after a Saudi-led conglomerate of police, security and military forces from the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council (PGCC) member states - Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar - were dispatched to the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom on March 13 to help Manama crack down on peaceful protestors.
Yet, protests and rallies continued throughout the country in defiance of the martial law put in place by Manama since last month. People have announced that they will continue protests until the regime collapses.
Last week, a member of the Society for Supporting Bahraini People, Qassem al-Hashemi, had announced that his group has thousands of documents which show severe violation of human rights by the Bahraini security forces.
"More than 20,000 cases of human rights violation have been registered in Bahrain so far," al-Hashemi told FNA on Sunday, stressing that these are only a part of the crimes committed by the al-Khalifa and Saudi security forces against the Bahraini people.
"The number of human rights violations in the recent developments in Bahrain is way beyond these figures, but because the al-Khalifa militaries and the so-called Island Shield Forces do much of these crimes inside detention centers and away from the eyes of the people, photographers and cameramen, we have been able to register only 20,000 cases of human rights violation in the form of photographs, video footages and other documents," he added.
MANAMA, May 25 (Reuters) - Bahrain will lift a state of emergency next week that was imposed when the government suppressed a democracy protest movement in March with the help of Saudi and other Gulf Arab forces.
After two months of negative publicity around the world over its crackdown and a collapse of business and leisure tourism, Bahrain hopes for a return to normalcy on June 1, following the end of night curfew in Manama this week.
Martial law was imposed in mid-March when the authorities broke up a sit-in of thousands at a traffic roundabout in Manama. Ending the emergency situation two weeks early, the government hopes, will send the right signals to the outside world.
But democracy activists say that while the ruling Al-Khalifa family and the Sunni Muslim elite are keen for business to return, they have no intention of easing up on behind-the-scenes repression of the majority Shi'ite population.
They would be helped in that by a purge of people who took part in the protests and other Shi'ites in many companies over the past two months. Clashes between police and protesters in Shi'ite villages would be tolerable since the country has often experienced such street unrest in the past and a media crackdown makes it less likely to get reported.
Some areas saw protests this week after a military court upheld the death sentence against two people over the killing of two policemen.
A boon for the government would be reinstating Bahrain in this year's Formula One motor racing calendar, after it was forced to postpone its grand prix scheduled for March. The championship is due to take a decision on the issue on June 3.
"Removing the curfew and ending the law earlier than the defined period shows things are moving better than expected and life is returning to normal," said Jamal Fakhro, deputy speaker of parliament. "Everybody is excited."
U.S. President Barack Obama criticised Bahrain -- an ally that hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet and seen as a bulwark against Iran -- during a speech last week but pressure has been slight. U.S. and British warnings against travel to the country remain.
Much has been made of the link between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Shia of Bahrain. Both the ruling regime in Bahrain and the Saudi invading force - leading the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to keep the ruling elite in power - accuse the Islamic Republic of fomenting revolt in the tiny but strategically significant Bahrain. "The Sunni royal family in Saudi Arabia," according to Britain's Daily Telegraph, "fears the growing influence of Shiite Iran in the Middle East, and is helping Bahrain's Sunni rulers retain power." The clerical rulers of the Islamic Republic deny any involvement. The same Telegraph report indicates that "the [UK] Ministry of Defence has now admitted that members of the Saudi Arabian National Guard sent into Bahrain may have received military training from the British Armed Forces in Saudi Arabia".
In the crossfire between these charges - the Bahraini ruling regime accusing the Islamic Republic of interference and support for the democratic uprising in their country, while the British army is in fact training the Saudis to go and crush that very uprising, Bahraini democracy activists are being brutally suppressed. "After severely curbing news coverage of its crackdown on opposition groups by foreign reporters," reported Roy Gutman of the Miami Herald from Dubai, on 25 May 2011. "Bahraini authorities have begun an assault on local journalists working for international news agencies - with arrests, beatings and, apparently in one instance, electric shock."
Clearing through all the hypocrisies and duplicities that cloud the vision, the influence of the Islamic Republic in Bahrain is not what the ruling regimes in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and their supporters in London and Washington DC, wish you to believe: That the ruling clergy in Iran is supporting the democratic uprising in Bahrain. That would be very odd indeed. Why would the Islamic Republic help a democratic uprising in Bahrain, while viciously suppressing one of their own? Just because the protestors in Bahrain happy to be Shia? That would be the bizarrest thing ever.
All these protestations notwithstanding, the Islamic Republic and Bahrain are in fact identical - not just in the majority of their population being Shia but in being ruled by two identically brutal and intolerant dictatorships. The Islamic Republic is frightened out of its wits by the Arab Spring, especially on its own back door, in Bahrain: for the more this Spring blooms and flowers the more it exposes the criminal atrocities of the Islamic Republic over the past thirty years, including, most recently, its own homegrown Green Movement - which one might in fact consider an early blooming of the Arab Spring.
(CNN) -- Bahrain on Tuesday warned against anti-government activity one day ahead of its plans to lift emergency laws that had allowed for a crackdown on opposition leaders, journalists and other activists.
The country's Ministry of Justice warned against "any type of activities that could affect the security or harm the national peace and safety," Bahrain's official news agency reported.
The lifting of the emergency laws, imposed in mid-March, is thought to be an effort to signal an end to months of civil unrest stemming from the Arab Spring, a wave of anti-government demonstrations that started in Tunisia and have since roiled several countries in the Middle East and North Africa, including Egypt, Syria, Yemen and Bahrain.
On Tuesday, Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa appealed for dialogue, saying that talks with opposition groups are scheduled to begin in July.
The U.S. pulled its human rights officer from the U.S. embassy in Bahrain after he became the target of a harassment campaign that senior U.S. officials say appears to have been fanned by some hard-line members of the government.
Ludovic Hood, who left the country last Thursday, was for months the subject of threats and anti-Semitic slurs on a pro-government website and officially sanctioned newspapers, the officials said.
Hood was scheduled to leave the country this summer, as his tour of duty was coming to a close. But senor U.S. officials said the embassy sent him home several weeks early over concern for his safety.
Last week, Bahrain said it had released 515 detainees imprisoned since the state of emergency went into effect, though it is unclear how many people are in custody.
The country is also set to hold parliamentary elections in September, filling seats vacated by members of the Wefaq party, Bahrain's largest Shiite opposition group, which left in protest over the crackdown.
The government has since come under intense criticism by human rights groups over its detentions, including the arrest of at least two Wefaq lawmakers.
It is not clear whether those opposition leaders will be permitted to take part in the September elections, though Bahrain has said in the past that all accusations about detainees will be investigated.
Protesters initially took to the streets of Manama, the capital, to demand reform and the introduction of a constitutional monarchy. But some have called for the removal of the royal family, which has led the Persian Gulf state since the 18th century.
(Reuters) - Bahrain scored a public relations coup on Friday by winning back its Formula One Grand Prix, canceled earlier this year after pro-democracy protests erupted in the Gulf Arab island kingdom.
Majority Shi'ites demanding political reforms continued to stage protests on Friday, two days after the lifting of emergency rule that the country's minority Sunni rulers hope will bring back tourism and commerce after months of turmoil.
"Congratulations -- we got it!" Fayyad, a Sunni employee of a private airline, shouted in a cafe in Manama when news began to buzz in social media that a motor racing council meeting in Barcelona had agreed to reinstate the race later this year.
In February, Bahrain canceled the Formula One season's opening race after clashes between security forces and protesters camped out in their thousands at Pearl Roundabout.
Despite calls by human rights groups against reinstating the race, a source told Reuters that the vote for Bahrain had been unanimous. The race is now scheduled for October 30.
"As a country we have faced a difficult time, but stability has returned; with businesses operating close to normal, the State of National Safety lifted and countries removing travel restrictions," said Bahrain International Circuit head Zayed R Alzayani.
"Collectively, we are in the process of addressing issues of national and international concern, and learning lessons from the recent past. By the time the Grand Prix arrives we will be able to remind the world about Bahrain at its best."
Alzayani said the race would attract 100,000 visitors, support 3,000 jobs and deliver a $500 million economic boost.
One Shi'ite employee told Reuters this week he had been fired despite not taking any days from work to take part in the protests. He said was abused during 20 days in detention and that 27 others dismissed or suspended faced similar treatment.
Zayani denied that some staff of the BCI had been suspended because they were Shi'ite.
But leading Bahraini rights activist Nabeel Rajab criticised the decision to bring back the race.
"We are going to use this event to expose the human rights violations in Bahrain and let the outside world know what's happening here," he said. "Sadly the decision comes at the same time as we buried two people today who were victims of government repression."
Police fired teargas to break up a protest by some 500 people early on Friday shouting "Down with (King) Hamad" and "Gulf forces out" in the district of Sanabis.
The protest began after the funeral of Zainab Ali Altajer, whose family said she died from the effect of a sound bomb during disturbances the day before.
A second funeral was held in Manama for a man who died after spending time in a state hospital for injuries sustained during the protests. They said his body showed signs of torture. An interior ministry statement said he died of natural causes.
Shi'ites say even if the emergency law has ended they suffer from the same security measures to stop them protesting.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Dozens of doctors and nurses who treated injured anti-government protesters during the months of unrest in Bahrain went on trial in a security court on Monday on allegations they participated in efforts to overthrow the Gulf country's monarchy.
The prosecution of 47 health professionals is a sign that Bahrain's Sunni rulers will not end their relentless pursuit of the Shiite-led opposition despite officially lifting emergency rule last week.
The doctors and nurses were arraigned on Monday during a closed hearing in a security court authorized under emergency rule that was imposed in mid-March to crush weeks of demonstrations by Bahrain's Shiite majority, which has campaigned for greater freedoms, equal rights and an elected government. The court has military prosecutors and military and civilian judges.
The medical workers were charged with participating in efforts to topple Bahrain's Sunni monarchy and taking part in illegal rallies. Other charges against the doctors and nurses, most of whom treated injured protesters in the state-run Salmaniya Medical Complex in the capital, Manama, include harming the public by spreading false news and denying medical attention to several Sunni patients.
Only select journalists are allowed to cover the trials in the security court after authorities put a gag order on legal proceedings against suspected opposition supporters. Select family members were allowed to attend Monday's arraignment. Amid tight security in and outside the court, relatives were also given 30 minutes to talk to the defendants after proceedings were adjourned to give lawyers more time to prepare for their clients' defense.
Another hearing in the case is set for June 13.
During the unrest, medical staff in Bahrain repeatedly said they were under professional duty to treat all and strongly rejected claims by authorities that helping anti-government protesters was akin to supporting their cause.
Bahrain's military took over the Salmaniya hospital after martial law was imposed March 15. The government said the complex was used to stage protests and conduct illegal political activities, charging the 47 doctors and nurses in custody with additional offenses, such as assault, embezzlement and possession of weapons.
The doctors and patients in Salmaniya said soldiers and police had conducted interrogations and detentions inside the complex and many injured protesters did not seek treatment there for fear of being arrested.
(CNN) -- Bahrain's crown prince, whose country has been wracked by anti-government protests, thanked U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday for his backing of a "national dialogue" to help resolve the country's political crisis.
"President Obama's support and understanding regarding Bahrain's forthcoming national dialogue were most welcome, as were his comments on the circumstances required to ensure its success," Crown Prince Salman said in a prepared statement.
Protests swept the strategically important island kingdom this year as populations across the Arab world rose up against their rulers. Bahrain, a small, predominantly Shiite country governed by a Sunni royal family, is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, and the United States has been concerned about the instability there.
Obama had a "productive discussion" with the crown prince on Tuesday, the White House said. He "reaffirmed the strong commitment of the United States to Bahrain" and said both the government and the opposition must compromise.
The president welcomed Bahraini King Hamad's decision to end the "state of national safety" early and the announcement that the national dialogue on reform would begin in July.
Obama said the "stability of Bahrain depends upon respect for the universal rights of the people of Bahrain, including the right to free speech and peaceful assembly, and a process of meaningful reform that is responsive to the aspirations of all."
The crown prince said Wednesday he shared the president's "outlook concerning respect for universal rights and the continuance of Bahrain's process of meaningful reform, which is a fundamental priority for the kingdom." He said Bahrain's commitment to reform "remains steadfast."
WASHINGTON As the Arab Spring grinds into summer, President Obama has turned on repressive Arab governments in different ways and at different speeds. He broke quickly with Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya and more reluctantly with Hosni Mubarak of Egypt. He slapped sanctions on Bashar al-Assad of Syria and has encouraged a Saudi-led effort to ease Ali Abdullah Saleh out of Yemen.
Only in the case of Bahrain has Mr. Obama kept out the welcome mat prodding, cajoling and exhorting members of its royal family to ease a crackdown that crushed peaceful protesters demanding democratic change. In particular, the administration has cultivated Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, the 41-year-old heir to the throne who graduated from American University in Washington and speaks English like someone from the mid-Atlantic region.
On Thursday, Prince Salman met Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., completing a high-level tour that included a White House meeting Tuesday with President Obama and his national security adviser, Thomas E. Donilon. He also paid a call to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who said the United States supported the kinds of important work that the crown prince has been doing in his nation.
The prince, who is considered the most moderate member of his family, has been assigned to lead whatever dialogue there is with the opposition. But this is the same Sunni monarchy that imposed martial law to silence the demands of the mostly Shiite opposition. It also allowed the deployment of Saudi troops as part of a campaign to stop further protests, which has included widespread arrests, detentions and, most recently, the trials of 47 doctors and nurses who treated injured demonstrators.
Given Mr. Obamas lofty rhetoric about the historic significance of the uprisings in the Arab world, why engage with a royal family that has led such a brutal crackdown?
Partly it is an acknowledgment of geopolitical reality. Bahrains royal family is unlikely to topple, if only because the Sunnis who rule Saudi Arabia will not tolerate their neighbor being run by a Shiite-led government. Bahrain is also home to the United States Navys Fifth Fleet. And it is close to Saudi Arabia, Washingtons most powerful ally in the region.
So administration officials are clinging to the hope that, perhaps against the odds, Bahrains leaders or at least the crown prince may be willing to undertake democratic changes.
You have somebody in the crown prince whos credible, who seems to want to do the right thing, said one senior administration official. But, as another administration official put it, Its not as if we have that many choices about who to talk to about promoting a dialogue.
Even before the uprisings, the United States looked to Prince Salman. In a diplomatic cable sent by the American Embassy in Bahrain in late 2009, and made public by WikiLeaks, he was described as very Western in his approach and closely identified with the reformist camp in the royal family particularly with respect to economic and labor reforms designed to combat corruption and modernize Bahrains economic base.
But several analysts warn that even if Prince Salman is sincere, he is only one member of a family that includes hard-liners like his uncle, Prince Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa, the long-serving prime minister. With his mild manner and fluent English, Prince Salman may be merely the monarchys friendly face, skeptical analysts say.
The prince is on a world tour to convince people that Bahrain is turning over a new leaf when in fact the hard-liners are conducting business-as-usual at home, said Leslie Campbell, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at the National Democratic Institute, which is active in Bahrain.
Manama, Bahrain (CNN) -- Human Rights Watch is urging Bahrain to stop special military court proceedings against those arrested during the country's anti-government's protests.
Most convictions were for patently political charges such as participating in unauthorized demonstrations and "incitement of hatred against the regime," and resulted in prison sentences ranging from one to five years, the group said Tuesday.
"Bahraini authorities should immediately halt all proceedings before the special military court and free everyone held solely for exercising their rights to free speech and peaceful assembly," the group said in a statement.
Those charged with genuine criminal offenses should be tried in an independent civilian court, it said.
Bahrain is one of several Middle Eastern and North African countries embroiled in anti-government protests. The ruling royal family -- Sunnis in a majority-Shiite nation -- accuses protesters of being motivated by sectarian differences and supported by Iran.
In recent days, the government began special military prosecutions of some of the protesters.
Human Rights Watch said these court proceedings violate international law.
"Most defendants hauled before Bahrain's special military court are facing blatantly political charges, and trials are unfair," said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
In a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama last week, Bahrain's Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa pledged he is seeking national dialogue with the protesters.
Bahrain's crackdown contradicts statements the prince made, Human Rights Watch said.
"The Crown Prince may be sincere in his efforts to promote dialogue, but what good is that while back home the government is crushing peaceful dissent and locking up people who should be part of the dialogue," Stork said.
As of Monday, 82 people have received verdicts from the military courts and 77 of them have been convicted. The sentences have ranged from five years in prison to life -- as well as two death sentences, the organization said.
Some of the trials have started without the lawyers or family members of the protesters being notified, Human Rights Watch said.
Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, and the United States has been concerned about the instability in the Persian Gulf island state.
A college student who wrote critical poems about Bahrains royal family during pro-democracy protests in the island kingdom earlier this year was sentenced to one year in prison today by a military court.
But in Bahrain, it's bring on the Grand Prix! Bahrain campaign to humiliate Shiites goes beyond politics Bahrain rights activist's wife details torture, unfair trial According to the Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights, which reported her sentence, Ayat Al Gormezi was found guilty of taking part in illegal protests, disrupting public security, and inciting hatred of the Bahraini government.
Ms. Gormezi, who read her poems aloud in videos posted on YouTube, has been detained since March 30. She was physically and psychologically abused by security officials during the initial days of her detention, according to a person familiar with her case. Her poems questioned the parentage of the prime minister and imagined the king speaking with the devil.
Gormezis ordeal and hundreds of others documented by Bahraini and international human rights groups underscore a deeply troubling aspect of the Bahraini governments policy of repression: Apart from quashing political dissent, the Sunni-led government appears bent on psychologically humiliating the islands Shiite majority into silent submission.
The main opposition party, Wefaq, says that around 400 Bahrainis, including 48 medical personnel and 22 opposition figures, have been brought before military courts as part of the governments almost three-month-old crackdown on the pro-reform movement.
bahrainis are facing unspeakable atrocities at the hand of the government and it is well past time that the international community is being made aware of this
MANAMA, Bahrain -- American officials are concerned about claims of abuses against detainees following Bahrain's crackdowns on Shiite-led protesters demanding sweeping reforms in the kingdom, a top U.S. rights envoy said Wednesday.
But the State Department official, Michael Posner, also expressed hopes for proposed talks next month between Bahrain's Sunni rulers and opposition groups.
At least 31 people have died since the unrest began in February inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the region yet Washington has made no moves to punish Bahrain's monarchy.
Bahrain's rulers have waged a harsh campaign to crush dissent but also play host to the highly strategic U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet.
"The challenge now is how to initiate dialogue with representatives of all sides and to ensure that this dialogue will address and resolves divisive issues," said Posner, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor.
Bahrain and its Gulf Arab allies are deeply concerned over expanding influence by Shiite power Iran and view any gains by Bahrain's Shiite citizens as a possible new foothold for Tehran.
This leaves Washington caught between backing its traditional Gulf partners led by Saudi Arabia and expressing support for the greater political openness and rights pushed by the demonstrators in Bahrain.
Shiites comprise about 70 percent of Bahrain's population, but claim they face systematic discrimination such as being blackballed from top government or military posts.
The ruling dynasty has come under sharp criticism from international rights groups. The far-reaching crackdowns include hundreds of arrests, purges from workplaces and universities, and accusations of anti-state conspiracies in trials before a special security court.
Anti-government protesters have once again taken to the streets in Bahrain, demanding an end to the rule of Al Khalifa dynasty and departure of Saudis forces.
Protesters in the northwestern town of Malikiya staged another demonstration on Monday, condemning the Saudi occupation of their country and called for the immediate withdrawal of Saudi troops.
The Bahraini people continue to hold protests on a daily basis despite the brutal crackdown by the regime forces.
Bahraini opposition says protesters will continue their street demonstrations until the nation's demands are met.
Saudi-led forces were deployed to the Persian Gulf island nation in mid-March upon Manama's request to help Bahraini troops quell the nationwide anti-regime protests. Many countries have condemned Saudi Arabia's military intervention in Bahrain.
Saudi activists have also repeatedly called for the withdrawal of their troops from the neighboring country.
Thousands of anti-government protesters have been staging demonstrations in Bahrain since mid-February, demanding political reforms and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.
Scores of people have been killed and hundreds, including doctors and journalists, have been arrested in the Saudi-backed crackdown on peaceful protesters in Bahrain.
Human rights groups and the families of protesters arrested during the crackdown say that most detainees have been physically and mentally abused, while the whereabouts of many of them still remain unknown.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have criticized the Manama for its brutal crackdown on civilians.
MANAMA, Bahrain A security court sentenced eight Shiite activists to life in prison Wednesday and issued long jail terms for 13 others in the latest blow by authorities waging a crackdown against protesters seeking greater rights in the Gulf kingdom.
Shiite crowds blocked roads with sand piles and called for protest marches suggesting the court decision could spark another round of unrest after months of lockdown-level security by military and police units in Bahrain, which is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
The wife of one of the activists said he shouted "Our people demand freedom" as the verdicts were read.
The sentences also could imperil U.S.-backed efforts by Bahrain's Sunni leaders to open talks next week with Shiite groups, which have demanded an end to the political trials and withdrawal of a Saudi-led regional force helping prop up the Bahrain ruling family.
Shiites comprise about 70 percent of Bahrain's population, but claim they face systematic discrimination such as being barred from top government and political posts.
The protests inspired by the wider Arab uprisings have claimed at least 31 lives and put U.S. officials in the difficult position of both denouncing the violence but standing by the rulers in a key military ally.
The Shiite activists were charged with trying to overthrow Bahrain's 200-year-old monarchy and of having links to "a terrorist organization abroad."
Bahrain's rulers fear that any gains by Bahrain's Shiites could open new footholds for influence by Iran, a predominantly Shiite country that is a main regional rival of the Sunni Arab-led nations just across the Gulf. Bahrain also accuses Iranian-backed Hezbollah of having a role in the protests.
Shiite leaders in Bahrain repeatedly deny any ties to Iran and accuse leaders of using the fears of Iranian string-pulling to wage crackdowns that have included hundreds of arrests and purges from jobs and universities.
(Reuters) - Some Sunni groups taking part in Bahrain's national dialogue say the Shi'ite-led opposition is serving Iran. Most participants have yet to announce their stance, and the largest opposition bloc may not even take part.
With only a week to go until the talks begin, deep-seated divisions and mutual suspicions mean consensus will be tough to reach and any reforms that are agreed are unlikely to satisfy everyone.
The Sunni-ruled Gulf kingdom quashed weeks of Shi'ite-led pro-democracy protests in March and imposed martial law until June 1. King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa then called a national dialogue, insisting that all reforms were up for discussion.
But with 300 people invited to join the talks and hundreds of opposition activists languishing in jail, critics hold out little hope that any meaningful reconciliation can be achieved.
"The possibility of it ending positively are nearly zero," said Shadi Hamid, from the Brookings Center in Doha.
Complicating matters on the tiny island is the presence of troops from fellow Sunni-ruled Saudi Arabia, which is wary of unrest among its own Shi'ites, clustered in the oil-producing Eastern Province that is linked to Bahrain by a bridge.
Hundreds of mostly Shi'ite Bahrainis have been arrested for taking part in the protests, which the government says serve the political agenda of Shi'ite power Iran, just across Gulf waters.
With dozens facing military trial and the dismissal of up to 2,000 mostly Shi'ite workers and students, the leading Shi'ite opposition party, Wefaq, has warned that it might not be able to hold back protesters if the dialogue proves fruitless.
"The situation is boiling," Wefaq spokesman Khalil al-Marzouq said. "If people lose hope that this dialogue will achieve anything serious to solve their problems, I don't know how we will be able to keep things in check."
Since Bahrain lifted the emergency law, protests have erupted daily in Shi'ite villages clustered around the capital.
A military court sentenced eight prominent Shi'ite activists to life in prison Wednesday, on charges of plotting to overthrow the government. The ruling sent angry youths into the streets shouting "No dialogue with the Khalifa family," as riot police rushed to stamp out unrest.
Cairo - Bahrain's top Shiite Muslim cleric used his Friday sermon to criticize a military court ruling against seven leading political activists charged with plotting to topple the government.
The seven, among 21 activists on trial, were sentenced to life in prison. Seven activists received prison sentences ranging from two to 15 years. Seven of the activists were tried in absentia.
'We condemn these verdicts and see them as harmful for the people,' said Ayatollah Sheikh Eissa Qasim. 'We call on these sentences to be revoked.'
He was speaking in the predominantly Shiite northern village of al-Duraz.
Shiite Muslims, who make up over 70 per cent of Bahrain's population, complain of discrimination by the ruling Sunni elite in the tiny Gulf country ruled by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.
Protests erupted in February, but were quickly muzzled when a temporary emergency law banning such public gatherings. Neighbouring Gulf countries sent troops to assist the Bahrain's leadership in quelling the protests.
International rights groups have condemned Bahrain for trying civilians in military courts, which often issue excessively harsh sentences, in the wake of widespread protests earlier this year.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon noted with 'deep concern the harsh sentences' and, in a statement, called on Bahraini authorities to do everything possible to create an environment conducive for the start of a concrete national dialogue.
Despite calls by the government for talks, officials have blocked engagement with the opposition, Qasim said.
'There is an invitation for dialogue, but the door has been blocked as strict verdicts are handed down to the people.'
The killings, imprisonment, sacking of protesters from their jobs and slandering has also hindered talks with the government, he said.
At least 24 people were killed during the unrest, according to the government. Thousands of people were arrested, and many were fired from their jobs for participating in the protests.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates A Bahrain political official says a Saudi-led military force will reposition units within Bahrain, but there are no plans to fully withdraw the troops that helped quell Shiite-led protests for greater rights.
The message Tuesday posted by Nabil al-Hammar, an adviser to Bahrain's king, gave no further details. But it left open the possibility of a drawdown by some members of the 1,500-strong force.
In Saudi Arabia, a military official said some units will be pulled out next week, but gave no details on how many troops would remain in Bahrain. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.
Bahrain's Sunni leaders hope to open talks Saturday with opposition groups.
Just days before Bahrain's Sunni rulers hope to open talks with the Shiite opposition they crushed, the country's most powerful pro-reform bloc is asking supporters a pivotal question: Whether to join or snub the dialogue.
Already, the leaders of the Shiite political group Al Wefaq have appeared to show their leanings questioning how reconciliation efforts, pushed by the U.S., can proceed while authorities still impose rigid security measures and hold trials linked to the Shiite-led campaign for greater rights.
Now the question of whether to participate in the government-arranged dialogue beginning Saturday is being debated in town hall-style meetings around the strategic Gulf island nation, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
Much hangs on the outcome.
The absence of Wefaq would be a severe blow to the credibility of the talks and reinforce the sense that Bahrain is still deeply wounded after more than four months of unrest. Wefaq is the leading political voice for Shiites about 70 percent of Bahrain's 525,000 people and held 18 seats in the 40-member parliament before a mass resignation to protest the violence against demonstrators.
It also would sting Washington, which has publicly backed the talks as the only option to calm tensions in one of its main Gulf military allies. At the same time, the U.S. is under growing pressures to take a harder line against Bahrain's ruling dynasty, which claims that Shiite power Iran has a role in the protests.
At least 31 people have died since February when Bahrain's Shiites inspired by uprisings elsewhere in the Middle East started a campaign for greater freedoms and an end to the Sunni hold on power.
