Fresh Horses – as Saudi troops rotate, criminals and witnesses vanished leaving al Khalifa’s independent investigators in the void

Bahrain says Saudi rotating troops, no new deployment
By PRAVEEN MENON – REUTERS MANAMA

Saudi Arabia has been rotating some of its troops in Bahrain, the Bahraini state news agency BNA said on Saturday, following reports more Saudi troops may have been sent to quell unrest in the Gulf island state.

Security forces from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were sent into Bahrain in mid-March to help clear the streets of protesters who had been staging demonstrations since February.

The troops were part of a Peninsula Shield force set up by Gulf Arab states for their mutual defense.

“The Peninsula Shield forces present in Bahrain reposition certain military units … as part of a routine operation,” BNA quoted a Bahraini defense official as saying.

A Reuters witness saw no troop movements on Saturday evening on a causeway joining Saudi Arabia to neighboring Bahrain, and a Bahraini opposition spokesman declined to comment on the report of a possible deployment of fresh forces.

On Friday, tens of thousands of people rallied in support of Bahrain’s largest Shiite opposition group after it pulled out of government-led national reform talks earlier this week.

The dialogue was initiated by the Gulf kingdom’s Sunni rulers after a four-month crackdown that began in March to crush weeks of pro-democracy protests led by the Shiite majority.

In late June, a government source had said Saudi Arabia would withdraw most of its 1,000 troops from Bahrain.

Emergency rule, imposed in March, was lifted in June.

Bahrain’s Sunni rulers have accused demonstrators of pushing a sectarian agenda with the backing of Shiite power Iran.

The opposition denied this and said it was seeking greater political freedoms and access to jobs.

Bahrain, where the US Fifth Fleet is also based, said it had asked for support in line with a defense pact between Gulf Cooperation Council countries, which also include Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar. …source