U.S.-based group Human Rights Watch urged Bahrain on Wednesday to investigate allegations by four opposition activists that they were tortured in detention last month. Bahrain has banned media from reporting on the case of Abduljalil Singace, head of human rights activities at the mainly Shi’ite Haq movement, and other opposition members. Their detention on security [...]
FROM THE ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT The atmosphere leading up to Bahrain’s parliamentary election in the end of October is getting increasingly tense as the government has arrested several leading opposition figures and cracked down on street protestors. The agitation serves to highlight the disaffection of a significant portion of the population, but there is still [...]
For nearly two weeks, the Persian Gulf island state of Bahrain has experienced near-daily disturbances following government arrests of opposition activists from the majority Shiite community. The timing of the arrests seemed geared toward preempting trouble in advance of the scheduled October 23 parliamentary and municipal elections, which minority Sunni parties and candidates are currently [...]
The three women in head scarves and black abayas surged into the main atrium of the Seef Mall at 11 p.m. the other night, unfurling a banner outside the Next clothing boutique that read, “It is forbidden to arbitrarily arrest and detain people.”
A picture was taken, and in less than a minute they had dispersed. As they tried to leave, more than a dozen plainclothes and uniformed police officers surrounded one of them, Fakhria al-Singace, pinning her spread-eagled on a cafe table.
Bahrain’s foreign minister said Sunday the country has no plans to follow its Persian Gulf neighbors in banning some BlackBerry services because security fears do not outweigh the technological benefits. His comments come as device maker Research in Motion Ltd. is facing opposition by a number of countries around the world, including Saudi Arabia and [...]
Bahrain’s King Hamad on Sunday called parliamentary and municipal elections for October 23, the state news agency BNA reported. The king, who chaired a cabinet meeting attended by Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa and Crown Prince Sheikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, urged voters to turn out in large numbers for the polls. “Decision-making [...]
The BlackBerry, made by Research In Motion, is open to misuse that poses security risks to the United Arab Emirates, which said on Sunday it would seek to safeguard its consumers and laws. Gulf state Bahrain in April warned against the use of BlackBerry Messenger software to distribute local news, drawing criticism from media freedom [...]
A BAHRAINI teenager, who was among nine fishermen held in Qatar for allegedly entering its territorial waters, was released from custody yesterday. Bahrain Human Rights Watch Society (BHRWS) secretary-general Faisal Fulad told the GDN that it was not yet clear why the Qatari coast guard decided to release 17-year-old Ali Ahmed Khalil. He claimed the [...]
With advocates of the BlackBerry considering it “groundbreaking,†other more conventional audiences envisage it as yet another nail in the coffin of tangible human contact. Meanwhile, here in the Middle East region and especially the Arabian Gulf area nowadays, BlackBerry is such a controversial issue, chiefly due to the area’s innate traditions and lack of adequate regulation on use of the device, from the point of view of the authorities.
Saudi Arabia has offered to mediate in a row between fellow Gulf states Qatar and Bahrain which has led to arrests of Bahrain-based fishermen by Qatar, a Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) official said on Thursday. Analysts say tension has been high since Bahrain nominated Mohammad al-Mutawa, a former Bahraini information minister said to be disliked [...]
