Cheerleading for the Bahrain Regime: "When I Met His Majesty" (al-Khalifa)

The King of BahrainYou may have seen lately a number of Websites siting my invitation to give my regards to His Majesty the King of Bahrain as a gesture for my support to the government. Let me be clear, neither me, nor anyone in Bahrain is pro-government. What we are instead are pro-fairness, pro-equality, pro-justice, pro-truth, and pro-enforcement....

My dear King is pro-fairness, pro-equality, pro-civil rights, pro-justice, and pro-rule of law, and this is why I love him and I support him and I love whoever loves and supports him. Long live King Hamad, supporter of universal rights!

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Follow-Up: The Regime's Crackdown on Medical Staff (Laurance)

Harrowing testimony of torture, intimidation and humiliation from a doctor arrested in the crackdown on medical staff in Bahrain has revealed the lengths to which the regime's security forces are prepared to go to quash pro-democracy protests.

Interviews obtained by The Independent from inside Bahrain tell of ransacked hospitals and of terrified medical staff beaten, interrogated and forced into signing false confessions. Many have been detained, their fate unknown.

Click to read more ...

Syria, Bahrain, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Propaganda

1920 GMT: Claimed footage of a demonstration in Jassim in southern Syria today:

And in this clip, a protester takes down a flag of the ruling Ba'ath Party:

Click to read more ...

Syria, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Welcoming Calm?

1915 GMT: Claimed footage of a demonstration by university students in Aleppo in Syria today:

Click to read more ...

Egypt, Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: A Turn in the Protests

1955 GMT: C.J. Chivers of The New York Times summarises the day's fighting near the opposition-held Ajdabiya in east Libya:

Colonel Qaddafi’s forces began the attack late on Saturday morning with barrages of rocket or artillery fire onto the city’s center. Then, as the smoke rose and confusion reigned, they sent a contingent of ground troops into the city , where a gun battle broke out.

The loyalists’ assault was more determined and organized than the ambushes and exchanges of rocket and artillery fire of recent days. Barrage after barrage of incoming fire thudded and exploded in the city, and loyalist troops advanced behind it. Thick smoke rose and drifted from central parts of Ajdabiya, and by noon, doctors were evacuating the city’s hospital as explosions shook the streets.

Many of the rebels fled once again, streaming north up the highway toward Benghazi, horns honking. One rebel shouted at vehicles as they passed: “Qaddafi’s forces are coming! Go! Go! Go!”

But at least a small cadre of lightly armed local residents remained to fight, stopping the advancing loyalists on the central Istanbul Street.

“We killed 10 of them,” said Said Halum, who stood in the morgue in the late afternoon over the body of his brother, Abdul Ghadir, who had been shot between the eyes. “Our group split into two groups on Istanbul Street and fought them. The firing was very heavy.”

As the gun battle within the city raged, the main rebel force rallied about 10 miles north and by evening was flowing back into the city, where they briefly re-established a degree of control of Ajdabiya’s eastern and central areas.

Gunfire started to ebb in these areas in the evening, but skirmishes could be heard at the city’s southern and western side, and then the barrages started again, prompting many rebels to flee again.

NATO airstrikes came into play in the battle --- at least one large mushroom cloud rose from the city’s western side at about 1:25 p.m. as pro-Qaddafi forces were barraging the city. But again the allied air campaign was unable to keep the colonel’s military from pressing the rebels, as has been the case throughout a week of fighting that saw the ragged opposition forces losing key footholds on the main coastal road, including the city of Brega.

Click to read more ...

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Shifting Positions?

1915 GMT: Medical sources says at least five people have been killed in shelling by regime forces and five more people are in critical condition. Many other wounded people could not be reached by medical teams because of sporadic shelling.

1820 GMT: Britain has announced that it is bringing four more Tornado fighter jets to the coalition mission, bringing the British total to 10.

Even more interesting, however, is the news that London will provide communications equipment on the ground to the opposition. That has probably already been occurring --- Al Jazeera English's James Boys reported yesterday on insurgents moving towards Brega with the new gear.

Click to read more ...

Bahrain Snapshot: The New Look of the "Last Independent Newspaper"

British Minister of Defence with Bahrain's KingFor weeks, Bahraini authorities and their supporters have waged a campaign against Al Wasat, the only newspaper which is not connected with the Government. A steady "information" effort has accused the paper of lies and distortions, and its printing works were attacked by armed civilians last month, forcing a reduction in the newspaper's number of pages.

On Saturday, after hours of "special" coverage on State TV denouncing Al Wasat, the newspaper was suspended by authorities. It was allowed to resume publication yesterday, after the board replaced the editor-in-chief, chief, and local news editor.

So what does the "new" Al Wasat look like? 

Well, this morning, only two of its featured nine stories are about Bahrain: 1) The Ministry of Education reports on the "negative impact" on the educational process and threat to the safety of students from recent events challenging national unity, and 2) Why is the Ministry of Municipalities not developing some of the old public parks?

Oh, yes, there is also the lead item in Local News: "King Receives British Minister of Defence and Confirms Importance of Cooperation and Joint Defense".

WikiLeaks & Bahrain 2008: Assessing Iran's "Threat"

Feb 2009: Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa and Manouchehr Mottaki In the context of the Bahraini regime's claims that Tehran is behind the wave of protests that started 14 February, Western media's depictions of a US concern with Iranian intervention, and Tehran's propaganda campaign highlighting Bahrain, this August 2008 cable for the US Embassy in Manama takes on significance.

Those who have noted the WikiLeaks document, from WikiLeaks, have seized on the Embassy's observation: "Bahraini government officials sometimes privately tell U.S. official visitors that some Shi'a oppositionists are backed by Iran. Each time this claim is raised, we ask the GOB to share its evidence. To date, we have seen no convincing evidence of Iranian weapons or government money here since at least the mid-1990s."

Yet the wider setting for Bahraini-Iranian relations deserves at least as much recognition: here are two regimes that are not necessarily enemies, but are willing to use each other as the "threat" for domestic consumption: "Bahrain's Sunni rulers view Iran with deep suspicion, and support USG efforts to pressure Iran to change its behavior. But the Al-Khalifas also seek to keep channels open, and make occasional gestures to placate their large, touchy neighbor."

Click to read more ...

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Getting Close to Qaddafi

1930 GMT: Libyan State TV is reporting coalition airstrikes on Tripoli.

1920 GMT: Army Officers: Al Jazeera English offers a list of recent resignations and defections by Yemeni officials to the opposition, including six military commanders, dozens of officers, 17 Ambassadors, the entire staff of the Yemeni Embassy in the US except the Ambassador, three MPs, and the leader of Yemen's most powerful tribe.

1910 GMT: President Obama, on a visit to Chile, has spoken to reporters about Chile. He reiterated that "it is U.S. policy" that Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi "has to go" and the international community "can't stand by with empty words" in the face of an imminent humanitarian catastrophe.

At the same time, Obama anticipated that the US would step back from leading the Libyan military mission when Libya's air defences were disabled: "We anticipate this transition to take place in a matter of days, not weeks."

Click to read more ...

Libya (and Beyond) LiveBlog: Eight Protests

2055 GMT: Three tribes in Libya's Oases region have issued a statement that they have joined the opposition and will defend the oil wells near the area

A leader of one of the tribes threatened last week to cut off oil exports to Western countries if Libyan authorities continued to violently crush anti-Gaddafi protests.

The tribes --- al-Zuwayya from Jikharra oasis, El-Mjabra from Jalu's oasis and al-Awajila from Awjila oasis --- wrote, "We hereby announce...that we have joined the victorious revolution from its first day and we confirm that the Oases region as a whole backs the February 17 revolution against the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. The region's youths stand defiant to defend and protect the oil wells that surround the region."

2045 GMT: A source tells Al Jazeera English says that "security officials were at Tripoli medical centre all day today....The injured did not go in for help." He estimates that 70 were killed in the capital last night.

Click to read more ...