Bahrain Boiling
BY SIMON HENDERSON | SEPTEMBER 23, 2011

MANAMA — As the U.N. General Assembly opens in New York, the world’s attention may be focused on the Israeli-Palestinian dispute — but tensions are still running high in a disputed strip of land further east. In the island kingdom of Bahrain, the struggle between Sunni and Shiite Muslims — and their respective patrons, Saudi Arabia and Iran — enters a new phase with the Sept. 24 by-elections to the country’s parliament.

Bahrain is where, in March, Saudi Arabia drew a proverbial line in the sand against the advance of the Arab Spring, leading a Saudi/United Arab Emirates coalition that sent 1,600 riot-trained paramilitary members and more than 20 tanks across the causeway that connects the two countries to put down a Shiite-led uprising. The crackdown led the Shiite opposition party al-Wefaq to resign its 18 seats in the 40-seat parliament in protest; the by-elections, scheduled by the ruling monarchy, are meant to fill those vacant seats. Al-Wefaq is boycotting the ballot but Shiite independent candidates are standing. Al-Wefaq’s local spiritual leader, Sheikh Issa Qassim, known by his Sunni detractors as “the ayatollah,” dubbed Bahrain “a fake democracy” in a fiery sermon on Friday, Sept. 23.

The elections threaten to upset the nervous stability that now reigns in the country. The Pearl Monument, which dominated a traffic circle around which demonstrators had gathered earlier this year, may have been demolished, but Shiite activists have promised to reoccupy the area this weekend. Such a coup will be a challenge — the junction is guarded by fleets of internal security vehicles, and down the road groups of Bahraini army Humvees also sit, waiting.

“Bahrain is going to boil this weekend,” read an email from a friend who lives in Manama. I don’t think he was referring to the weather, though noon temperatures are consistently over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. The U.S. Embassy in the Bahraini capital issued a similarly sober warning, urging Americans to stay away from “a potentially violent demonstration” near the Pearl Roundabout, now renamed al-Farooq Junction by the government, though known as Martyrs’ Square by the Shiite opposition.

Whether the demonstrations come to pass remains to be seen, but the outcome of the by-elections is clear. The government will see the new members — all the districts concerned are primarily Shiite-populated — as support for its cautious steps toward a more representative democracy. Filling the seats will enable the national assembly to function again, even though the government may be tempted to reduce the number of Shiites in it (voter absenteeism and ballot rigging could reduce Shiite members from 18 to 12). A revived political system will enable the government to implement modest political suggestions made during the course of the summer by a national dialogue, which discussed the background to the troubles of February and March.

Al-Wefaq and the hard-line Shiite party al-Haq (which has always seen political participation as a waste of time) will depict the result as a fig-leaf covering the open wound of a Sunni-ruled, majority-Shiite country, where, despite promises of reform, the al-Khalifa royal family has no intention of losing either its political or commercial grip. …more

[cb editor: may be related to burns in images below.]

[cb editor: note the misdirection - Media reports on the Mall and video even coming out but media on Protests at Pearl Square are less prevalent. Internet sites with Pearl Quare video and images are either tied up with no page loading and possibly even connection being blocked - with server load balancing being manipulated.]

Bahrain Arrests ‘Vandals’ at Mall on Eve of Election, BNA Says
By Donna Abu Nasr – Sep 23, 2011 8:54 AM MT

Bahraini security forces have arrested several “vandals” at the biggest shopping mall in the capital, Manama, the state-run Bahrain News Agency reported.

The incident came a day before Bahrain holds special Parliamentary elections to fill 18 seats vacated by the al-Wefaq group, the biggest Shiite Muslim party. Its lawmakers quit to protest a crackdown on mostly Shiite protesters who held demonstrations in February and March. At least 35 people were killed in clashes with security forces.

The protests in Bahrain were demanding full democratic representation and equal economic opportunities for the majority Shiite population. The country’s hereditary Sunni rulers invited troops from neighboring Saudi Arabia and other Gulf monarchies to help restore order, and accused Iran of fomenting the unrest. …source

Groups to protest Bahrain elections and Human Rights conditions
From Samira Said, CNN – September 23, 2011 — Updated 1007 GMT (1807 HKT)

(CNN) — Several groups have planned protests ahead of Saturday’s parliamentary elections in Bahrain.

The elections are being held to replace 18 seats that were vacated by Al-Wefaq, the country’s largest opposition party. The party vacated the seats to protest the treatment of demonstrators during February’s unrest in Bahrain.

An opposition group called The February 14 Coalition said it plans to launch protests on Friday and Saturday in the newly named Martyr’s Square, the site formerly known as Pearl Roundabout.

“Just like all other freedom loving people living in real democracies across the globe, we, the people of Bahrain have the right to choose the way in which we are governed,” the group said.

The Youth Coalition of February 14 announced they will be holding a sit-in demonstration at the same location.

Addressing an opposition rally in Tubli, a village south of Manama, Thursday, Sheikh Ali Salman, head of the Al-Wefaq party said, “when we talk about democracy we want democracy like that of Westminster, France, and America, not the democracy of Saddam Hussein, nor the democracy of Zine El Abidine, nor the democracy of Gadhafi.”

Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa, president of Bahrain’s Information Affairs Authority, said he expected voter turnout to be encouraging Saturday, according to the state-run Bahrain News Agency.

Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa was attending the UN General Assembly in New York. On Thursday he spoke about the need for reforms “aimed to provide decent living conditions, security and tranquility in a society of peaceful coexistence.”