{"id":18688,"date":"2013-10-18T13:57:41","date_gmt":"2013-10-18T19:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=18688"},"modified":"2013-10-18T13:58:08","modified_gmt":"2013-10-18T19:58:08","slug":"us-expresses-concern-over-bahrain-unrest-real-concern-is-us-backing-of-bloody-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=18688","title":{"rendered":"US expresses “Concern Over Bahrain Unrest”, Real Concern is US backing of Bloody Regime"},"content":{"rendered":"

US Concerned Over Unrest in Bahrain<\/strong>
\n17 October, 2013 – VOA<\/p>\n

STATE DEPARTMENT \u2014 The United States is increasingly concerned about unrest in Bahrain ahead of the trial of a leading opposition activist later this month. There has been little progress in a national dialogue that was agreed to following violent demonstrations in 2011. Considering Bahrain is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet, it’s a worrisome issue for Washington.<\/p>\n

Violence following the funeral of a Bahraini opposition activist is the latest setback to a national dialogue that was to have settled differences between the government and its opponents.<\/p>\n

“We are disappointed by recent events that have happened on the ground and eroded the prospects of dialogue in Bahrain,” said U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.<\/p>\n

The Obama administration is aware of the detention and death of 31-year-old dissident Yousif Ali al-Nashmi, Psaki said. He was arrested in August on charges of taking part in illegal protests, although the Bahrain Center for Human Rights disputes that.<\/p>\n

He died several days after his release this month following what human rights groups say was abuse in detention.<\/p>\n

Last month, President Obama compared sectarian tensions in Bahrain to the violence in Iraq and Syria.<\/p>\n

Bahrain is a majority Shi’ite country but is ruled by a Sunni royal family. <\/p>\n

However, the government of King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa claims there is no comparing Bahrain with Syria and Iraq, where sectarian tensions have fueled violence.<\/p>\n

A foreign ministry statement said “terrorist extremist groups” are targeting security forces and that Bahrain is responding “within the rule of law.”<\/p>\n

The opposition is demanding more jobs, more democracy, and the release of all political prisoners.<\/p>\n

Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute feels Washington has missed an opportunity with Bahrain’s Shi’ites, who make up 70 percent of the population but are not proportionately represented in politics.<\/p>\n

“The U.S. has done very little on behalf of Shia in Bahrain, where the majority are struggling for some greater say in their government,” said Bandow.<\/p>\n

Psaki said the Obama administration is urging Bahrain’s government to uphold freedoms of assembly and expression and for all parties to reaffirm their commitment to nonviolence.<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s more that all parties can do to move things forward. So I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s a specific obstacle as much as there\u2019s more that needs to be done,” said Psaki.<\/p>\n

Former U.S. Ambassador Adam Ereli claims Washington’s “middle-ground” is not working.<\/p>\n

“Nobody knows what the U.S. position is. In Bahrain they say, ‘Look, we support a democratic process. Don’t use violence.’ But we don’t condemn the opposition. We don’t declare support for the regime. Nobody knows what side we’re on,” explained Ereli.<\/p>\n

Opposition groups suspended their participation in the national dialogue over last month\u2019s detention of activist Khalil Marzouq, who is charged with using his leadership position in a legal political organization to incite violence. Amnesty International calls him a prisoner of conscience. His trial is set to begin October 24.
\n…source<\/a><\/p>\n

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US Concerned Over Unrest in Bahrain 17 October, 2013 – VOA STATE DEPARTMENT \u2014 The United States is increasingly concerned about unrest in Bahrain ahead of the trial of a leading opposition activist later this month. There has been little progress in a national dialogue that was agreed to following violent demonstrations in 2011. Considering more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247],"tags":[1712],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18688"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18688"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18689,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18688\/revisions\/18689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}