Bahrain Feature: Have "Hardline Sunni Groups" Overtaken the Regime? (Hammond)

A rally in January calls for the hanging of men detained during protests

See also Bahrain Feature: The Splintering of the "Regime" and "Opposition" Camps?

---

Bahrain's Sunni Muslim minority, fearful of Shi'ite political assertiveness, is spawning factions that rail against compromise with the island's sectarian majority, while nursing their own grudges against its Sunni ruling family.

The loyalist Sunni backlash, once seen as a card played by the authorities, may now upset even any royal hopes of opening a dialogue to calm a conflict that has shredded Bahrain's social cohesion and cost its tourism- and banking-based economy dearly.

Click to read more ...