(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Leaders from only two opposition groups, al-Wefaq and al-Waad are participants of the dialogue since other opposition leaders are in custody.
In an interview with us, Raza Kazim, from the Islamic Human Rights Commission in London, shares his view on the current situation in Bahrain.
Q: Is the call for dialogue from the government of Bahrain just mere window dressing?
Kazim: I think when we talk about a national dialogue process that is supposed to be taking place, one of the conditions under which it is taking place is that there are many people that are being put on trail, who have been demonstrating peacefully. If you want a dialogue, you need to start from the basis that all political prisoners need to be freed. You need to make sure that those people that have perpetrated this violence, what accountabilities are there going to be, what assurities are there going to be?
There is no point in saying that you are having some kind of a national dialogue. I heard one of the earlier speakers talking about the idea that Washington is pushing for a dialogue, I think it could possibly be pushing for a dialogue. Quite frankly that is laughable, because Washington has got its naval fleet based there in Bahrain, and you would expect that if they really wanted to exert pressure they could have done so very, very early on. They want this repression to continue, they want, in the forefront, the Saudis to take the lead role in this in order to make this into a sectarian issue. It is precisely this that needs to be counted, one the idea of somehow the US is an honest broker or pushing for some kind of dialogue, secondly this idea that somehow this isn't a sectarian issue.
Q: The US has maintained close alliance with Persian Gulf monarchies, it is keeping that security cooperation going with other Persian Gulf states as well, how do you think its prepared to face the changing geopolitical position or status in the region, if we are indeed seeing geopolitical changes in the region?
Kazim: I think one of the things we need to remember regarding this is that they are not just trying to protect the naval fleet that is based in Bahrain, in what will potential come out of that, because that is an issue. But one of the problems that they have is that they are worried, and Saudi Arabia is worried that if Bahrain falls and goes into accepting the will of the people, there are issues that will start to arise. There is turbulence within Saudi Arabia itself from two or three different major groupings, who are against the Saudi regime in the way that it is continuing to have the interest of the Americans being followed in all international politics and so on in suppressing the people of Saudi Arabia itself and by dividing and ruling so that there is this sectarianism being promoted within Saudi Arabia so that the people that exist are not being able to cooperate to try and overthrow the monarchy.
So, I think there is that geopolitical aspect that one of the things they wanted to do by tackling Bahrain, by sending Saudi forces into Bahrain, was this idea of making sure that they have gone on the offensive that they don't let Bahrain fall, because they are worried that Saudi Arabia could be next. They are worried about Yemen, they are worried about all of these things that are happening in the Middle East, and geopolitically that would be a major blow to US interest.
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