ArchivesTag : politics
Al Wefaq faces legal action
Al Wefaq National Islamic Society is to face legal action for tarnishing individuals and families and defaming Bahrain’s political rule.
“Al Wefaq has exceeded the bounds of largely approved consensual national principles,” Justice and Islamic Affairs Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ali bin Abdulla Al Khalifa said yesterday in statement.
Legal charges will be pressed against other associations [...]
‘Torture’ injuries self-inflicted
Nine men standing trial for murder inflicted injuries on themselves and tried to pass it off as police torture, a medical examiner told Bahrain’s High Criminal Court yesterday.
The Bahrainis claimed they were beaten into confessing by police, but Dr Hatim Mahmood Nabeel told judges that was unlikely during a gruelling two-and-a-half hour session.
They are standing [...]
‘Unrealistic’ rights report slammed
A top government official and a leading opposition member have criticised as unfair and unrealistic an annual global report which ranks the country alongside Afghanistan, China and North Korea in terms of political freedom and civil liberties.
Bahrain is one of five countries downgraded into the “not free” category of Freedom House’s Freedom In The World [...]
Societies launch new petition
A national petition against naturalisation was launched by six opposition political societies last night. The petition is the second after another sent by mail last year was rejected by the Royal Court, which ordered the societies to present it through proper parliamentary channels.
However, the societies – Al Wefaq National Islamic Society, Islamic Action Society, National [...]
«التقرير الاستراتيجي البحريني 2009»: عامل الطائفية في تصاعد
كشف «التقرير الاستراتيجي البحريني 2009» عن تصاعد عامل الطائفية في البحرين في الأعوام الأخيرة، الأمر الذي جعل تفسير الكثير من الأحداث من منظور طائفي، بحسب التقرير.
وأكد التقرير وجود 12 قضية مهمة طُرحت خلال العامين 2008 – 2009، تقدمتها: البيئة، الجامعات الخاصة والتعليم العالي في البحرين، حرية الصحافة، البطالة، وغيرها.
ولفت إلى أن المشهد الداخلي «يتأثر بعاملين [...]
Bahrain’s women work to win more parliamentary seats
Just eight women ran in Bahrain’s first general election in 2002, with the number increasing to 18 four years later. Despite a handful of close races in 2006, only one woman managed to secure a seat in the country’s fledgling parliament, after she ran unopposed.
But if May al Otaibi and others have anything to do with it, female candidates will have a good chance during Bahrain’s next general election slated for November 2010.
Full StoryGCC to create rapid reaction force; Gulf against military action on Iran
Arab states in the Gulf are opposed to any military action against neighbouring Muslim Iran over its nuclear programme, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah said Tuesday. “We do not accept any military action against Iran,” Sheikh Mohammad said at the end of a summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council. “Any tension in the region [...]
Full StoryGCC states closer to achieving one currency
Gulf Arab oil exporters will move closer to a unified currency when their rulers meet on Monday in Kuwait, which promised to seek the return of the United Arab Emirates and Oman to the monetary union plan.
The UAE, the second largest Arab economy, dealt a serious blow to the union by pulling out in May [...]
Shia population: Fed up with immigration and discrimination
October brings an end to the humidity that keeps Bahrainis indoors for four months in every year. It also heralds a new political season for the poorer Shia villages, where in recent weeks protesters have taken to the streets by day and daubed anti-government graffiti by night. In northern settlements such as Karbabad and Diraz, [...]
Full StoryLabour: Liberalised labour laws help country stand out from peers
When Bahrain abolished much of its expatriate sponsorship system this summer, the move sparked an avalanche of protests from the business community. Executives complained that the move would destroy their businesses and turn employees against them.
“They said there would be chaos in the market,” says Majeed al Alawi, the labour minister. “But cheap labour distorts [...]
Talk of reform but still much to do
Next month, as Bahrain marks the 10th anniversary of rule under King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, the feelings of Bahrainis will be decidedly mixed.
Some will celebrate and point to development projects, greater freedom of speech and labour reforms as illustrations of progress on the small island state, which has carved out a reputation as one [...]
Arabs Need to Talk to the Israelis
Arabs Need to Talk to the Israelis
By Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa
Thursday, July 16, 2009 8:36 PM
We need fresh thinking if the Arab Peace Initiative is to have the impact it deserves on the crisis that needlessly impoverishes Palestinians and endangers Israel’s security.
This crisis is not a zero-sum game. For one side to win, the [...]
Bahraini Shi’ites complain over settling Sunnis
Majority Shi’ite Muslims in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain, home to a U.S. navy base, are increasingly agitated over what they say are government efforts to give Sunni foreigners nationality to dilute Shi’ite numbers.
Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni family and its fragile sectarian balance concerns neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the largest Sunni Gulf Arab [...]
On a rocky path to reconciliation
Twenty-six Bahrainis, 19 of whom are accused of killing a policeman, and the other seven accused of killing a Pakistani man in two separate incidents of rioting, are due back in court next month after a pardon to secure their release failed to materialise.
In April, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the Bahraini king, pardoned [...]
Rally to call for release of suspects
A rally demanding the release of 26 suspects allegedly involved in the killing of two Pakistanis, including a policeman, will be held tomorrow.
The event, which will begin near the Bahrain Mall, is being organised by 13 political figures, including Hassan Mushaima, Shaikh Isa Al Jowder and Shaikh Mohammed Habib Al Meqdad.
It will start at 5pm [...]
