Bye Bye Bahrain GP
Discussion
Report from The Times 16.00 CET
More than 1,000 Saudi troops have entered Bahrain to help authorities cope with an uprising by the Gulf kingdom’s Shia majority, a Saudi official said today.
Bahrain’s Government has not confirmed the deployment but opposition groups said that it would amount to an act of war against the people of Bahrain.
“We consider the arrival of any soldier, or military vehicle, into Bahraini territory ... an overt occupation of the kingdom of Bahrain and a conspiracy against the unarmed people of Bahrain,” an opposition statement said.
The Saudi official, who wished to remain anonymous, told the AFP news agency that the soldiers had been sent into Bahrain — which is separated from Saudi Arabia by a causeway — yesterday to form part of the “Peninsula Shield Force” raised by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The official said that the intervention came “after repeated calls by the [Bahraini] Government for dialogue, which went unanswered” by the opposition.
Nabeel al-Hamer, a former Bahraini minister and adviser to the royal court, said on his Twitter feed that foreign troops had arrived on the island. Bahrain is a key US ally and headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
The deployment follows a day of sustained violence in Manama in which local security forces were outnumbered and outmanoeuvred by pro-democracy demonstrators. One demonstrator was killed in the violence, which brought an end to an uneasy truce which had held since a Government crackdown on demonstrations last month.
Saudi Arabia is thought to have pushed Bahrain’s rulers to take a hard line against the protesters, clearly fearful that its own Shia minority in the oil-producing east could be infected by the pro-democracy bug. Analysts said that the Saudis would provide the bill for any GCC force.
The Gulf Daily News, a newspaper close to Bahrain’s powerful Prime Minister, reported that the GCC forces would protect strategic facilities and help maintain law and order.
“Their mission will be limited to protecting vital facilities, such as oil, electricity and water installations, and financial and banking facilities,” it said.
I suppose that the fuel price will go up again, as well
More than 1,000 Saudi troops have entered Bahrain to help authorities cope with an uprising by the Gulf kingdom’s Shia majority, a Saudi official said today.
Bahrain’s Government has not confirmed the deployment but opposition groups said that it would amount to an act of war against the people of Bahrain.
“We consider the arrival of any soldier, or military vehicle, into Bahraini territory ... an overt occupation of the kingdom of Bahrain and a conspiracy against the unarmed people of Bahrain,” an opposition statement said.
The Saudi official, who wished to remain anonymous, told the AFP news agency that the soldiers had been sent into Bahrain — which is separated from Saudi Arabia by a causeway — yesterday to form part of the “Peninsula Shield Force” raised by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).
The official said that the intervention came “after repeated calls by the [Bahraini] Government for dialogue, which went unanswered” by the opposition.
Nabeel al-Hamer, a former Bahraini minister and adviser to the royal court, said on his Twitter feed that foreign troops had arrived on the island. Bahrain is a key US ally and headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
The deployment follows a day of sustained violence in Manama in which local security forces were outnumbered and outmanoeuvred by pro-democracy demonstrators. One demonstrator was killed in the violence, which brought an end to an uneasy truce which had held since a Government crackdown on demonstrations last month.
Saudi Arabia is thought to have pushed Bahrain’s rulers to take a hard line against the protesters, clearly fearful that its own Shia minority in the oil-producing east could be infected by the pro-democracy bug. Analysts said that the Saudis would provide the bill for any GCC force.
The Gulf Daily News, a newspaper close to Bahrain’s powerful Prime Minister, reported that the GCC forces would protect strategic facilities and help maintain law and order.
“Their mission will be limited to protecting vital facilities, such as oil, electricity and water installations, and financial and banking facilities,” it said.
I suppose that the fuel price will go up again, as well
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