Bahrain\u2019s dialogue with opposition groups met with skepticism
\nJune 17, 2011 02:49 AM
\nBy Brian Murphy
\nAssociated Press<\/p>\n
DUBAI: Bahrain\u2019s ruler has canceled all vacations for top officials next month and a special center and mediator have been named for talks with opposition groups, proposed to open on July 1.Now the question is whether anyone will show up.<\/p>\n
The Shiite groups that speak on behalf of protesters \u2013 who took to the streets four months ago to demand greater rights \u2013 have shown no rush to embrace the appeals for dialogue by the Sunni monarchs they accuse of creating a two-tier society in the Gulf kingdom.<\/p>\n
The possible failure to open talks could be interpreted as far more significant than simply a payback snub by Bahrain\u2019s Shiite majority after unrest that\u2019s claimed at least 31 lives and left hundreds of people detained or expelled from jobs and studies.<\/p>\n
It would serve as clear recognition that the complexities on the tiny island \u2013 drawing in heavyweight issues such as U.S. military interests and Arab worries over Iran \u2013 are too vast to solve over cups of tea between the rulers and the opposition.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvents seem to have gone too far and too fast for some kind of quick fix through talks,\u201d said Toby Jones, a Bahrain expert at Rutgers University.<\/p>\n
Bahrain\u2019s choice of mediator for the proposed talks is under question. The government appointed the Parliament speaker to head the dialogue, but opposition groups consider it a downgrade from the first pointman, Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa. …source<\/a><\/p>\n