Mideast Crises: Anti-Regime Protests in Bahrain

 -Dr. Abdul Ruff

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The Tunisian Jasmine revolution is spreading to the Mideast like wildfire already removing two despotic regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, but without in fact affecting the most corrupt core nations in African continent. However, there is an upheaval after the fall of the regimes in both nations as no credible replacement has been made in either of the Muslim nations. Bahrainis tried to create their own version of Egypt's Tahrir Square. The protesters in Bahrain are calling for wide-ranging political reforms and had been camped out since 15 Feb. Security forces in Bahrain have dispersed thousands of anti-government protesters in Pearl Square in the centre of capital, Manama. Demonstrators have occupied the Pearl Square. Hundreds of riot police using tear gas and batons moved in before dawn, with tanks now reported on some streets. Clashes earlier in the week left two dead and dozens injured in the country. At least three people died in the police operation, according to the opposition, with 100 injured.

Armed patrols prowled neighborhoods and tanks appeared in the streets for the first time Thursday after riot police with tear gas and clubs drove protesters from a main square where they had demanded sweeping political change in this tiny kingdom. Barbed wire was set up on streets leading to the square, where police cleaned up flattened protest tents and trampled banners. The island nation was effectively shut down since workers in the capital could not pass checkpoints or were too scared to venture out. Banks and other key institutions did not open.

The unrest comes amid a wave of protests that has swept through several Arab nations, with the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt forced to resign. The security forces evacuated Pearl Square after having exhausted all chance of dialogue," interior ministry spokesman Gen Tarek al-Hassan said, in a statement from the official news agency BNA quoted by AFP. The secular Waad party said that the police had acted without any warning. But Bahrain's authorities said they had no choice but to storm the square. They claimed that as some "refused to submit to the law" they had to intervene to disperse them.

Since independence from the UK in 1971, tensions between the Sunni elite and the less affluent Shia have frequently caused civil unrest. Shia groups say they are marginalized, subject to unfair laws, and repressed. The conflict lessened in 1999 when Sheikh Hamad became emir. He freed political prisoners, allowed exiles to return and abolished a law permitting the government to detain individuals without trial for three years. He also began a cautious process of democratic reform. In 2001, voters approved a National Action Charter that would transform Bahrain into a constitutional monarchy. The next year, Sheikh Hamad proclaimed himself king and decreed that a National Assembly be formed. There was also greater protection of democracy and human rights. Although political parties were banned, "political societies" could operate. Landmark elections were held in 2002, but the opposition boycotted them because the appointed upper chamber of parliament, the Shura Council, was given equal powers to the elected lower chamber, the Council of Representatives.

Tiny Bahrain Island also is a pillar of Washington's military framework in the region. Bahrain is yet another nightmarish twist to B. Obama's growing Middle East dilemma at a time when instability is rapidly outpacing American imperialist strategy in the region. As protests continue in the tiny gulf state of Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet, the Americans and Saudi Arabia are monitoring events there very closely. Ahead of the storming of the square the US had expressed concern at the violence and called for restraint and respect for the "universal rights of its citizens" and "their right to protest". Bahrain is a key US ally, hosting the US Navy's Fifth Fleet. American president Obama may have another headache on his Middle East plate. The Fifth Fleet is seen as a bulwark against the rising threat of Iran. And Saudi Arabia is even more nervous - a causeway links the kingdom to Bahrain. An expert with close ties to the powerful Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef said the Saudi government will intervene if the situation "gets out of hand". As in Egypt, US policy has been to ignore the often legitimate grievances of Bahrainis in favor of stability and support for a repressive regime. On Wednesday, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the US was "watching events from Bahrain and around the region very closely".

The brutal response of the authorities makes it clear that the ruling family saw this as a threat to its grip on power. Although protesters have been routinely beaten and tear-gassed by security forces in the past, these deaths are the first of their kind in several years, and are likely to add fuel to a growing anger among ordinary Bahrainis. The Bahraini demonstrators many waving the Bahraini flag said they wanted: political prisoners who have been rounded up since August 2010 and an end to civil rights abuses to be released; more jobs and housing; the creation of a more representative and empowered parliament; a new constitution written by the people; a new cabinet that does not include Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa, who has been in office for 40 years. That is to say the protesters’ demands have two main objectives: force the ruling Sunni monarchy to give up its control over top government posts and all critical decisions, and address deep grievances held by the country's majority Shiites who claim they face systematic discrimination and are effectively blocked from key roles in public service and the military. The disturbances in Bahrain - where the Shia Muslim majority has been ruled by a Sunni Muslim royal family since the 18th Century - are part of a wave of anti-government unrest that has swept the Middle East.

Any prolonged crisis opens the door for a potential flashpoint between Iran and its Arab rivals in the Gulf. Bahrain's ruling Sunni dynasty is closely allied to Saudi Arabia and the other Arab regimes in the Gulf. But Shiite hard-liners in Iran have often expressed kinship and support for Bahrain's Shiite majority, which accounts for 70 percent of the island's 500,000 citizens. Sporadic clashes between police and protesters continued in the morning, with demonstrators hurling rocks, and then retreating. A group of young men broke up the pavement for more stones to throw.

In a rare TV appearance on Tuesday, Bahrain's king, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, expressed regret about the deaths of protesters and said he would continue reforms begun in 2002 when the emirate became a constitutional monarchy.

What exactly is not yet clear is whether the rulers would submit to the demands and quit. And if Sheikhs quit, will they also loot the nation like the Tunisian and Egyptian despots have done?