Am Sorry for Nayef who Adored Death for 79 years, Loathed Iran, he loved Khamenei Fucking Bahrain & Raping Qatif, Fathered Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Fucking Tunisia to End, Watched Mubarak killing Egyptians in Tahreer and Enjoyed Assad Genocides in Syria. Poodled Wahabis to Jurisprudent crime for Bush & Obama. He strongly opposed Evolution of the Ultra-Orthodox Medieval Kingdom. Everything stayed the same and he is dead. Poor Judeophile Nayef.
Le prince héritier saoudien, Nayef ben Abdel Aziz, est mort, a annoncé aujourd’hui la télévision d’État. Agé de 79 ans, il était considéré comme un conservateur. Malade, il se trouvait en Suisse depuis quelques semaines. Il était également le ministre de l’Intérieur du royaume. Il avait été nommé prince héritier en octobre dernier après la mort de son frère, Sultan ben Abdel Aziz. Ben Abdel Aziz, issu de la famille royale, était né en 1933 à Taëf. Il avait été nommé gouverneur de Ryad à 20 ans, avant de devenir vice-ministre de l’Intérieur en 1970 puis ministre de l’Intérieur en 1975. Il avait sévi contre Al-Qaïda qui a mené des attentats sanglants dans le royaume de 2003 à 2006, obligeant ses chefs et membres à s’enfuir au Yémen et démantelant les associations caritatives qui collectaient les dons pour le réseau.
Tenant d’une ligne dure à l’égard de l’Iran
Le prince Nayef était en outre connu pour entretenir de bonnes relations avec les milieux religieux tenants de l’orthodoxie et généralement opposés à une évolution du royaume ultra-conservateur. Tenant d’une ligne dure à l’égard de l’Iran, il avait néanmoins de solides relations dans le monde arabe. Il avait, selon des diplomates, joué un rôle dans la décision du royaume d’accueillir le président tunisien déchu Zine El Abidine Ben Ali et d’envoyer des troupes à Bahreïn pour aider à la répression de la contestation animée par des chiites. Ses obsèques se tiendront demain dimanche en Arabie saoudite. Avec sa disparition, personne n’est officiellement désigné pour devenir prince héritier mais son frère, le prince Salmane ben Abdel Aziz, ministre de la Défense, apparaît comme celui qui pourrait lui succéder.
Gen Robert Mood: “We stand ready to work with all parties to assist with bringing an end to the violence”Continue reading the main story
The head of the UN Stabilisation Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) says the mission has been suspended because of escalating violence. Norwegian Gen Robert Mood said the observers would cease patrols and stay in their current locations. But he said the mission remained committed to ending the violence. The announcement comes a day after Gen Mood warned that the escalation in violence was limiting the observers’ ability to do their work. The BBC’s Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says the statement is a recognition that international envoy Kofi Annan‘s peace plan has hit the rocks, and greatly increases the pressure on international diplomacy to salvage it. Earlier, activists said troops had been shelling parts of Homs and Damascus. At least seven people were killed overnight in Douma, an eastern suburb of the capital, while at least 18 others died in violence elsewhere, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported. The Observatory also warned of civilians trapped by fighting in Homs who needed medical care – dozens needed to be evacuated.
Civilians ‘suffering’
The UN estimates that the conflict in Syria has left more than 10,000 people dead, mostly civiliansIn a statement announcing the suspension of UNSMIS operations, Gen Mood said: “The observers will not be conducting patrols and will stay in their locations until further notice.”
“This suspension will be reviewed on a daily basis. Operations will resume when we see the situation fit for us to carry out our mandated activities,” he said, adding that a “return to normal operations remains our objective”.The mission’s 298 military observers and 112 civilian staff are in Syria to verify the implementation of the six-point peace plan negotiated by the UN and Arab League envoy, Kofi Annan, which included a ceasefire. On Friday, Gen Mood told a news conference in Damascus that after the mission began on 29 April there had been a lull in violence, “brought about willingly” by the government and rebels. But he warned: “Violence over the past 10 days has been intensifying, again willingly by both parties, with losses on both sides and significant risks to our observers.” “The Syrian population, civilians, are suffering and in some locations, civilians have been trapped by ongoing operations.” The general noted both sides had accepted Mr Annan’s plan, but said: “There appears to be a lack of willingness to seek a peaceful transition. “Instead there appears to be a push towards advancing military positions,” he added. Gen Mood warned that the UN mission was not open-ended and would be under review as it neared the expiry of its current mandate in July. But he hinted that it should be strengthened in numbers and equipment. Last Tuesday UN monitors were fired on and turned away by angry residents as they tried to enter the town of Haffa amid fears of a massacre. They were able to return on Friday. The UN says at least 10,000 people have died since pro-democracy protests began in March 2011. In April, the Syrian government reported that 6,143 Syrian citizens had been killed by “terrorist groups”.
Russia’s Neoafghanistan If Putin Fucked-Up this time in Syrian. US, EU Exploit the Unprecedented Russian Troops Move to Tartus Military Intervention & No-Fly Zone to short-circuit UN. If Obama is right then he clinched 2nd term.
Here is Some Mindsteroid Must-Read from DEBKAfile:
A contingent of Russian Special Forces is on its way to Syria to guard the Russian navy’s deep-water port at the Syria’s Mediterranean Coastal Town of Tartus, Pentagon officials informed US NBC TV Friday, June 15. They are coming by ship. According to DEBKAfile’s sources, the contingent is made up of naval marines and is due to land in Syria in the coming hours. In a separate and earlier announcement, US Defense Department sources in Washington reported that the US military had completed its own planning for a variety of US operations against Syria, or for assisting neighboring countries in the event action was ordered – a reference, according to our sources, to Turkey, Jordan and Israel. The Syrian civil war is now moving into a new phase of major power military intervention, say DEBKAfile’s military sources. Moscow, by sending troops to Syria without UN Security Council approval, has set up a precedent for the United States, the European Union and Arab governments to follow. They all held back from sending troops to Syria because all motions to apply force for halting the bloodshed in Syria was blocked in the UN body. According to US military sources, in recent weeks, the Pentagon has finalized its assessment of what types of units would be needed and how many troops. The military planning includes a scenario for a no-fly zone as well as protecting chemical and biological sites. The U.S. Navy is maintaining a presence of three surface combatants and a submarine in the eastern Mediterranean to conduct electronic surveillance and reconnaissance on the Syrian regime, a senior Pentagon official said.
LEGALIZIN’ LOOTS
Hey, New York Times, Israel Cannot ‘Legalize’ Its Colonies in the West Bank!
Well, I just wrote a similarly titled post about how the Washington Post reported on this very same issue. It’s a similar story with the New York Times. First, read that post.
Good, now check out the Times‘ version:
The Israeli government on Tuesday retroactively legalized three Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank, and moved to delay the scheduled evacuation of a fourth, in a provocative move that some critics said marked the first establishment of new settlements in two decades….
As with most matters in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is disagreement over the basic facts concerning the three settlements…. The international community broadly views settlement in the West Bank as illegal, but Israel draws a distinction between those communities it has officially sanctioned and outposts that settlers built without permission.
So if you read my post on the Post’s version, you can already see the problems here:
1) Israel cannot by fiat declare that its colonies in the West Bank are “legal”. All its settlements in the West Bank are illegal, period.
2) The international community does not “broadly” view Israel’s settlements as illegal. It is a unanimous international consensus that Israel’s settlements violate the Geneva Conventions, to which it is a party. Not a single nation on this planet recognizes Israel’s colonies as “legal”. As with the Post, the Times gives equal weight to Israel’s view as the international community, thus fabricating a “disagreement over the basic facts” when none exists. It is not a matter for debate, not a matter of opinion, but an incontrovertible, uncontroversial fact that every inch of the West Bank is “occupied Palestinian territory” and every Israeli settlement illegal.
Hey, Washington Post, Israel Cannot ‘Legalize’ It’s Colonies in the West Bank!
The Washington Post reports:
Israel announced Tuesday that it has legalized three unauthorized Jewish outposts in the West Bank, a move that Palestinians and anti-settlement activists condemned as a step toward creating the first new settlements in more than a decade….
Settlements are a core point of dispute in the frozen peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, who view the housing developments as Israeli land-grabbing and want construction to stop before resuming negotiations. Israel says the issue should be discussed during peace talks.
Although most foreign governments consider all settlements illegal, Israel applies that label only to about 100 so-called outposts that were built without official authorization, sometimes on private Palestinian land.
This kind of biased reporting is standard fare in the U.S. media. If you don’t see the bias, I’ll break it down for you:
1) The Post reports that Israel “legalized” Jewish “outposts” in the West Bank. That is false. All Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal, and Israel’s claim that it may “legalize” its colonies has no legal standing. (See also #3.)
2) The Post reports that Palestinians “view” Israel’s colonies as “land-grabbing”, as though this was merely a perception. Israel’s illegal colonization of the West Bank is ipso facto land-grabbing.
3) The Post reports that “most foreign governments consider all settlements illegal”, the usual euphemism in the U.S. media, as though some countries consider Israel’s settlements to be legal. That is false. There is a unanimous international consensus, and it’s not a matter of opinion. Every nation on the planet recognizes the incontrovertible fact that Israel’s colonization of the West Bank is a direct violation of the Geneva Conventions, to which Israel is a party. Not a single nation on Earth considers Israel’s settlements to be “legal”, except, of course, for Israel, whose view is given equal weight as that of the international consensus by such means as the above. (Which goes back to #1.)
4) The Post says Israeli colonies are “sometimes” built “on private Palestinian land”. What it does not clarify is that every inch of the West Bank is Palestinian land, whether it is privately owned or otherwise, and every settlement is always built on Palestinian land.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Your Highness, many groups from in and outside Bahrain called for the Formula 1 race that was held last weekend to be cancelled. Can you justify the fact that it took place?
Khalifa: I was very happy that it took place, despite all the negative comments we saw before the Formula 1 race. I was there and saw the whole race. It was a happy event for all Bahrainis.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: In the meantime, the protests in your country are continuing. The opposition claims the government’s reforms do not go far enough and that you aren’t really interested in a dialogue.
Khalifa: First of all, this is a movement of people which, in the modern world, we call a “terrorist group.” This movement is supported by Iran and Hezbollah. What we are facing is exactly what the Americans are facing with terrorism.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Are you comparing serious Bahraini opposition groups like Al Wefaq with a terrorist network?
Khalifa: I am specifically talking about all those who are calling for violence and destruction. About those who are burning tires, throwing Molotov cocktails at police and are terrorizing the rest of this country.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: So you reject a dialogue?
Khalifa: We are open to dialogue. Our door remains open, but those who say they want dialogue have to remember that the participation of all sectors of Bahraini society is needed in order for these efforts to bear fruit. But let’s not forget, we have offered the opposition a dialogue in the past and they walked out of it. The king has gone a long way in making many offers to them, but in the end they told us they had to wait to see what Iran would tell them. Now we are experiencing daily violence on our streets. If I were to ask the Americans to engage in a dialogue with terrorist organisations, such as al-Qaida, what do you think they would say?
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Al-Qaida conducted terrorist attacks against the United States. The protesters just say they want reforms.
Khalifa: Reforms? If only this truly were about reforms. We started reforms a long time ago — earlier than any other Arab country. The king also made clear he wanted to continue with further reforms. We also have a very sophisticated welfare state in Bahrain that offers its citizens free education and health care, subsidizes housing and living allowances — and even includes unemployment benefits. I hold the opposition’s religious leader, Issa Qassim, responsible for everything that is going on in this country, especially for all the people who have been killed. And Qassim is taking his orders from Iran.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: People are protesting every day in the suburbs of the capital city of Manama. These demonstrations often end in altercations between the police and protesters. How would you like to resolve the situation in your country? Khalifa: We have to apply the law against everyone who broke it. These people are destroying public property and they are attacking police and Asian expatriate workers. It is our duty to protect all people in Bahrain. We are a multicultural society and we do not want that to change.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Does this mean you will use more police force against the protestors?
Khalifa: We do not want bloodshed in this country. Our police are only here to protect the people and not to attack or kill them. So far, we have shown a great deal of patience with the opposition. We made mistakes on our side, but the king brought in the Bassiouni Commission (an independent panel led by Egyptian-American human rights expert Cherif Bassiouni to carry out an inquiry into the protests and resulting violence), which was very critical of our past actions. We have accepted (the report) and have now implemented some of (the commission’s) recommendations. We are currently processing other proposed reforms through the parliamentary process and constitutional court. But has the international community ever questioned the opposition or held them accountable for their actions?
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, the most prominent member of the opposition, who is currently in jail in your country, has been on a hunger strike for almost 80 days. His condition is very bad.
Khalifa: I beg to differ with you. His condition is not as bad as you say. According to the doctors attending to him on a daily basis, he takes liquids. The Danish ambassador visited him recently and said he was satisfied with the treatment being provided to him.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Why don’t you release al-Khawaja or extradite him to Denmark, where he lived in exile for a number of years and also has dual citizenship?
Khalifa: In Bahrain, the executive branch does not interfere in the judicial process. He has been accorded due process of law. He is a Bahraini citizen, and extraditing him to Denmark is against Bahraini law.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: But a number of international human rights groups and Western countries claim that your security forces are continuing to abuse protesters and opponents of the government.
Khalifa: I do not think these accusations are legitimate. How do Western police deal with unlawful and violent protests? Are they just letting protesters there throw stones and Molotov cocktails? When it comes to national security, human rights aren’t the most important thing. Or did the Americans and their allies think about human rights when they marched into Iraq and Afghanistan?
SPIEGEL ONLINE: The opposition in your country are just asking for more rights, particularly those within the Shiite majority of Bahrain’s population.
Khalifa: The opposition is only looking for excuses, abusing demands for “more rights” and “democracy” to turn Bahrain into a second Iran. We have Sunni and Shiite ministers; and we have Shiites who are very rich. It simply isn’t true that the Shiites in Bahrain are poor and oppressed. They left parliament, they blocked our roads and they put this nation in jeopardy. They hung effigies of myself, the king and the crown prince with nooses around our necks and signs saying, “Death to Al Khalifa.” This is democracy.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: The opposition groups are demanding that you resign from your post as prime minister and say it could be the first step toward stopping the protests. When will you listen to their calls and step down?
Khalifa: This is for the king to decide. My duty was and remains to protect this country, and I will do this until the last day of my life. Believe me, if my position alone were the reason for the unrest, then I would have already stepped down from my office last year. But this is just a further excuse from the opposition. I am very proud of Bahrain’s achievements and the role I have played in realizing them. We have also established Bahrain as a multiethnic and multicultural country, and the majority of our people are against the efforts of those who seek to sow the seeds of division.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: But the fact is that you have governed since 1971, making you the longest-serving prime minister in the world. That’s very unsual for a democracy.
Khalifa: So what? Democratic systems are very different. The system in Thailand is different from Russia, and the form practiced in Germany differs from that of the United States. So why can’t we also be different?
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Some countries in the Arab world have already changed: Tunisia, Libya and Egypt, for example.
Khalifa: Do you think I am happy to see what has happened in all these countries? This is not an “Arab spring.” Spring is connected with flowers, happy people and love — not death, chaos and destruction. And how did Britain react when the country experienced its own “Arab spring” last year when young people started to steal and attack?
SPIEGEL ONLINE: You mean the riots in London and other cities? But the British weren’t asking for more rights.
Khalifa: Just because people in Bahrain claim to be acting in the name of democracy does not make their actions any less bad than what happened in Britain last year.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Bahrain is highly dependent on Saudi Arabia. Last year, soldiers from the Gulf states marched into your country under Saudi Arabian command.
Khalifa: Saudi Arabia has never put pressure on us. We are members of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf and it was our right to ask our allies for help. When the Americans went into Iraq and Afghanistan, they also asked their allies for help and no one said a word about it. But we got criticized when we did.
BAHRAIN FORMULA ONE: FEATURING AHMADINEJAD VS. AL-SAUD. Whoever Wins The Grand Prix Has To Wait For Mitt Romney Get the Whitehouse Or trust Obama Turn The Island To Another Iranian-Bitch-State. Unless Bahraini will Quit Fucking each other. Get their second amendment, waste REAL BLOOD not Seminal-fluid to get Bahrain and send the Midgets out Puffing Sheesha in Jeddah or Pattaya where they belong. Here is Iranian Sleeper-Cells Bahraini Fugitives Horsemanure on DER SPIEGEL:
Interview with Bahraini Opposition Activist
A woman and her child pass in front of anti-Formula One graffiti in the village of Barbar, Bahrain.
In a SPIEGEL interview, Zainab al-Khawaja, the daughter of detained Bahraini protest leader Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, calls for this weekend’s Formula One race in the country to be cancelled. She says the protests in the Gulf state will continue until Bahrainis are given the right to “self-determination.”
On Sunday, Formula One racing is set to return to Bahrain, but the country and opposition are divided over the event. Wefaq, the leading Shiite opposition group, has said it is not opposed to staging the race. Jasim Husain, a former member of parliament and representative of the group even visited the racetrack on Thursday to give the event a boost.
“Most people in Bahrain are happy and pleased that F1 is back given its effects on the economy and the social aspects of it,” Husain said.”Many are happy and pleased. I see this as a sporting and economic event, rather than a political event.”
Still, hundreds of protesters in the country are calling for three “days of rage” to begin after Friday prayers to stop the race. They fear the prestigious event will provide a PR coup for a government that is guilty of serious human rights violations. Bernie Eccelstone, the face and voice of Formula One, has even described Bahrain as a “quiet and peaceful” country.
Since the uprising in February 2011, at least 50 people have been killed in violence between security forces and some within the country’s majority Shiite population. While some opposition groups are calling for reforms within the current system, some protesters, like al-Khawaja, are seeking to topple the royal family of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, which is Sunni and has ruled for more than 200 years. Human Rights Groups Call for al-Khawaja’s Release
Zainab al-Khawaja, the 28-year-old daughter of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja — a protest leader detained by Bahraini officials — has played a prominent role in protests since her father’s arrest. A Bahrain military court convicted Abdulhadi al-Khawaja last June of plotting to overthrow the royal family and sentenced him to life in prison. For almost 70 days, he has been on a hunger strike. Although a government spokesman says he is being provided with around-the-clock care and that he “is taking, with his consent, the necessary nutrients,” a number of human rights groups fear he could be near death and are calling for him to be freed.
Last week, human rights group Amnesty International called for al-Khawaja’s “immediate and unconditional” release, saying in a statement that Bahrain’s “determination to persecute him seems to override any consideration for justice or humanity.” The group described his imprisonment as “unfair” and alleged he and 13 other prominent opposition activists are being “held solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly, and who have not advocated violence.”
Human rights abuses in Bahrain have come under the more intense focus of the international community since February 2011, when thousands of demonstrators protested in the capital of Manama for political reforms. The country’s rulers quickly moved to quash the rebellion and prevent the Arab Spring from spreading into Bahrain. Security forces arrested thousands who participated in the Pearl Square protests.
In June, the king appointed a special commission led by Egyptian-American human rights expert Cherif Bassiouni to carry out an inquiry into the protests and violence. The commission issued a report in November identifying human rights abuses and also prescribing steps the government should take to remedy the situation, which the king agreed to implement. However, the group Human Rights Watch claims that “Bahrain’s rulers have not fully carried out” the commission’s “key recommendations.” The organization says investigations have not been conducted into senior officials implicated in torture and unlawful killings and that military court verdicts against protest leaders “whose sole offenses involved free expression and peaceful assembly” have not been overturned.
In the case of al-Khawaja, who has a turbulent relationship with the royal family, the government has accused him repeatedly in the past of seeking to overthrow the monarchy. Al-Khawaja and his family were forced to go into exile in Denmark during the 1980s and they were only allowed to return to the kingdom in 2001 under a decree issued by King Hamad.
Some Western and Arab intelligence services accuse al-Khawaja and some other activists in Bahrain of having received military training in Iran and of maintaining close contact with Hezbollah. “They speak in the name of human rights, but as a matter of fact their mission is a political one,” an American security official said. “We are extremely worried about the contacts they have with some questionable groups and figures.” Al-Khawaja’s daughter Zainab has denied such claims, saying she does not believe her father received training in Iran and that her family receives “no support” from Hezbollah.
In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, Zainab al-Khawaja says her father is very “weak” after being on a hunger strike for more than two months, that “he has trouble speaking” and that her family fears “he might fall into a coma soon.” She also discusses the ongoing protests against the government and repeats the protesters’ demand that this weekend’s Formula One race be cancelled as it was in 2011.
SPIEGEL: Protesters in Bahrain are calling for the cancellation of the Formula One race, which is scheduled to take place this Sunday. Why are you protesting against this international sporting event?
Zainab al-Khawaja: This big sporting event has been used by the regime to trick the world. The people in the West are supposed to believe that Bahrain is a country whose people live a life of peace, but we suffer under a regime that does not want to hear our screaming. The people of more than 20 villages are participating in the protests. They are fed up with the fact that they cannot express their opinions freely.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Will you continue with your protests, even if the race proceeds?
Al-Khawaja: We will not keep silent, even if the Formula One is taking place. We will protest for human rights and freedom.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: It is largely Shiites who are protesting against the ruling Sunni royal family of King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa.
Al-Khawaja: I am Shiite and proud of it. But the green bracelet I am wearing on my right arm, and which identifies me as a Shiite, does not symbolize that I believe I am superior. I am first and foremost a Bahraini.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Your 50-year-old father, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, is the most famous human rights activist in the kingdom. He was arrested one year ago and has now been on a hunger strike for over 60 days. Do you have any hope that he might be released soon?
Al-Khawaja: The only crime my father has committed is that he is a human rights activist who is demanding freedom and democracy. That’s why he has been arrested, interrogated and tortured. We are not expecting any justice from the trial (at the court of appeals) that will take place soon.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Did your father want to overthrow the regime?
Al-Khawaja: He called for democracy in Bahrain. Even I was arrested. It was reason enough for the security forces that I tried to visit my father in the military hospital. I was interrogated for two days.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: But the king has acknowledged that mistakes were made, and he has even begun introducing reforms.
Al-Khawaja: These are miniscule changes compared to the crimes the regime has committed against people who have protested peacefully for their aims. Some have paid for this with their lives. I am not proud of the King of Bahrain, in whose name people have been killed.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: But the protests didn’t remain peaceful. Some of the demonstrators resorted to violence.
Al-Khawaja: It is a reaction. We don’t want peace over freedom. We will choose freedom over peace. We will go on with our fight for self-determination and democracy. But if things continue the way they are, I expect the situation to become more violent.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Are you calling for people to stop attacking police and to stop throwing stones and Molotov cocktails?
Al-Khawaja: No, I will not stand against the victims’ reaction. It really amazes me when people ask if I will condemn it. I will not.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: The motto of this Formula One race is: “UNIF1ED — ONE NATION IN CELEBRATION.” Will that be possible?
Al-Khawaja: It is simply not the case that we are celebrating. The Bahraini people are in a lot of pain and they don’t feel that the government is listening. More than 20 villages are protesting on a daily basis.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: But it seems as though the numbers of protestors have recently been declining.
Al-Khawaja: During the march on March 9, tens of thousands of protestors went out onto the streets.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: This happened after Shiite cleric Sheik Isa Qassim, the highest religious authority for Shiites in Bahrain, called in his Friday sermon for people to join the protests.
Al-Khawaja: People went out on the streets on their own will — not because they are blindly following a cleric. And they showed a unified will of the people to protest against the regime. Many people are for and many are against Isa Qassim. But what we all have in common is that we protest against the regime of this country.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Some Shiites who were fired from their jobs at the racing circuit for several months because they protested at Pearl Square are now back at work. They say they hope the Formula One race will take place because it would help them economically.
Al-Khawaja: The protests in Bahrain did not take place because of a shortage of bread. This is an issue of pride and dignity. People are sick and tired of living in a country where they cannot speak about what is on their mind. I am speaking out, but we are paying a high price for it.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: The Shiite workers at the circuit who are now back at their jobs say they want the race to take place so that their country can heal.
Al-Khawaja: How can a country heal if it is still bleeding? The government is not doing anything to help the country to heal. The government is just making cosmetic changes.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: In June, the king commissioned Cherif Bassiouni to carry out an inquiry into the protests and the resulting violence. The king promised to implement the commission’s recommendations regarding a police reform and reform of the judiciary. Do you consider this commission to merely be a “cosmetic change”?
Al-Khawaja: The commission was brought in and paid for by the king. Why did the king convene it? To start the healing? To turn to a new page? The independent commission the king brought in said that prisoners were tortured and mistreated and that people who were for freedom of speech should be released. But have they been released?
SPIEGEL ONLINE: You don’t consider the reforms taking place to be sufficient. Do you want the regime to be overthrown?
Al-Khawaja: I want self-determination. If that means having a constitutional monarchy as the first step, fine. But, in the end, people in Bahrain should have the right to vote and choose their president. A single family should not be allowed to rule on its own.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Both the king and the crown prince have suggested they would open the doors to a dialogue with the opposition. Would you agree to that?
Al-Khawaja: A dialogue sounds like a great idea, but we don’t think the government actually wants one. The royal family lied in 2011 when they said they were ready for dialogue. Now we have suffered even more and we will not give up our rights.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Was it not the king who released prisoners and allowed your family to return to Bahrain from Denmark?
Al-Khawaja: Yes, we were allowed to come back after spending much of our lives in exile.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: The government claimed your father had sought to overthrow the regime.
Al-Khawaja: If someone is calling for democracy, he is calling for an end of a dictatorship and if this is the will of the people, this could also mean overthrowing the regime.
Interview conducted by Souad Mekhennet
Readout of Secretary Panetta’s Meeting with Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Defense, Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud
Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs George Little provided the following readout:
“Yesterday the secretary hosted an honor cordon for Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Defense, Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud. This was Prince Salman’s first visit to the Pentagon. Discussions centered on the strength and importance of the long standing U.S.-Saudi relationship and our mutual interest of peace and stability in the region. They also discussed implementation of the recently concluded sale of F-15 Saudi advanced aircraft. The secretary also hosted Prince Salman for a working dinner last evening.
“Other DoD officials scheduled to meet with Prince Salman include Acting Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Miller, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs Joseph McMillan, U.S. Central Command Commander Gen. James Mattis, and Missile Defense Agency Director Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O’Reilly.”
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Iranians Fuckocrasy in Bahrain is dead as her Ungrateful Beast Sleeper-Cells fled Formula-1 Outbreak
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