(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Bahrain's revolution still goes on with the Saudi-backed forces’ heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protesters in several villages.
In the village of Jad Ali near the capital, tear-gas was used against young protesters out shouting "Down with Hamad" - the ruling monarch. Similar clashes took place in the northeastern village of Sitra.
Bahrain has been rocked by anti-government protests for more than a year now. Manama, with the direct backing of Saudi Arabia, has cracked down on the protests with all possible means.
An interview with Kamel Wazne, a political analyst from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to further shed light on the issue.
What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Q: It has been well over a year of crackdowns, arrests, prosecutions and persecutions. How long and how far is the Al-Khalifa regime willing to go on with its crackdown against the peaceful protesters?
Wazne: I think the injustice that is taking place in Bahrain is not Al-Khalifa; it is the Saudi monarchy that is taking the control of the sovereignty of Bahrain.
It is working against the will of the Bahraini people and they are supplying the weapons and supplying the money and it seems that the Saudis are determined to continue that crackdown against the Bahraini people.
Despite the fact that the Bahrainis are resilient and determined to carry their freedom and democratic change, they wanted a system where there will be justice. We heard that we had a meeting at the UN civil right committees and there was a voice of condemnation from the highest body of the UN, over 176 condemnations against the Bahraini regime and that should be against the Saudis.
And so far the world is still silent because some Persian Gulf countries particularly Saudi Arabia, they fear that any change in Bahrain will become the end of the monarchy in the Persian Gulf.
So it is all war from the Al-Khalifa monarchy and the Saudis against the Bahraini people and a lot of crimes and atrocities have been committed against the people of Bahrain.
And the world, as I said before, has been silent and the United States has interests in the Fifth Fleet that is actually located on the Bahraini soil to be quiet and supportive of the Bahraini monarchy.
This is what is taking place right now. This is going to be a long battle that the Bahraini and the people of Bahrain will prevail.
Q: Saudi Arabia, as you mentioned as well, has been a major player in the clampdown on the peaceful demonstrators. Saudi Arabia hinted earlier at efforts to create a union of Persian Gulf Arab states, starting with Riyadh and Manama. Do you see an exit for the Saudis from Bahrain at all?
Wazne: I think the Saudis are taking the Bahraini issue very close to what is happening in the east of Saudi Arabia and they think that if the Bahraini were able to get their democratic system and their representation of the majority and where there will be a system where justice will be the rule, this will be a wake-up call for the people of eastern Saudi Arabia and they will start probably, as we have seen, demonstrations.
There is a large population in Saudi Arabia that wants a change. So I think the Saudis are going to the end on the crackdown. But eventually things are going to explode because the heavy hands of the Saudis in Bahrain and in eastern part of Saudi Arabia will not continue forever because the people wanted to have their own rights in their own country; they want to live with dignity and freedom and they do not want to be repressed by the Saudis or the Bahrainis.
There is major civil rights violation in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia and those are not being addressed.
The level of poverty that exists in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia is huge where people are not allowed to take certain jobs [because they were sacked from their previous jobs].
This is a total violation of all humanity norm and rule and I think the Saudis will put all their resources and they have been putting all their resources to crack down in Bahrain and in their eastern part of their country.
Q: How do you perceive the continued silence of countries such as the United States and Britain to the constant violations of human rights taking place in Bahrain?
Wazne: The Americans never cared about the human dignities that is being violated in Bahrain or the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. All they care about is their economic interests; they care about the oil, the strategic location that actually exhibited in Bahrain, their major base, the Fifth Fleet which is actually located in Bahrain and they care about the flow of oil and natural gas in that region.
So the Americans have not actually been quiet. They have been helping in the crackdown by supplying weapons to the Bahrainis as we witnesses just a week ago or more so when the Crown Prince met with Hilary Clinton and she decided to sell more arms to the Bahrainis.
This is a total violation of the concept of democracy that always the United States talked about because here they are selling weapons to crack down against the people of Bahrain.
America is committing a gross violation of human rights in Bahrain and it is accomplice in these crimes that are taking place in Bahrain. There is huge crime that is taking place in Bahrain and the world has to wake up and see what is happening.
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In the village of Jad Ali near the capital, tear-gas was used against young protesters out shouting "Down with Hamad" - the ruling monarch. Similar clashes took place in the northeastern village of Sitra.
Bahrain has been rocked by anti-government protests for more than a year now. Manama, with the direct backing of Saudi Arabia, has cracked down on the protests with all possible means.
An interview with Kamel Wazne, a political analyst from the Lebanese capital, Beirut, to further shed light on the issue.
What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.
Q: It has been well over a year of crackdowns, arrests, prosecutions and persecutions. How long and how far is the Al-Khalifa regime willing to go on with its crackdown against the peaceful protesters?
Wazne: I think the injustice that is taking place in Bahrain is not Al-Khalifa; it is the Saudi monarchy that is taking the control of the sovereignty of Bahrain.
It is working against the will of the Bahraini people and they are supplying the weapons and supplying the money and it seems that the Saudis are determined to continue that crackdown against the Bahraini people.
Despite the fact that the Bahrainis are resilient and determined to carry their freedom and democratic change, they wanted a system where there will be justice. We heard that we had a meeting at the UN civil right committees and there was a voice of condemnation from the highest body of the UN, over 176 condemnations against the Bahraini regime and that should be against the Saudis.
And so far the world is still silent because some Persian Gulf countries particularly Saudi Arabia, they fear that any change in Bahrain will become the end of the monarchy in the Persian Gulf.
So it is all war from the Al-Khalifa monarchy and the Saudis against the Bahraini people and a lot of crimes and atrocities have been committed against the people of Bahrain.
And the world, as I said before, has been silent and the United States has interests in the Fifth Fleet that is actually located on the Bahraini soil to be quiet and supportive of the Bahraini monarchy.
This is what is taking place right now. This is going to be a long battle that the Bahraini and the people of Bahrain will prevail.
Q: Saudi Arabia, as you mentioned as well, has been a major player in the clampdown on the peaceful demonstrators. Saudi Arabia hinted earlier at efforts to create a union of Persian Gulf Arab states, starting with Riyadh and Manama. Do you see an exit for the Saudis from Bahrain at all?
Wazne: I think the Saudis are taking the Bahraini issue very close to what is happening in the east of Saudi Arabia and they think that if the Bahraini were able to get their democratic system and their representation of the majority and where there will be a system where justice will be the rule, this will be a wake-up call for the people of eastern Saudi Arabia and they will start probably, as we have seen, demonstrations.
There is a large population in Saudi Arabia that wants a change. So I think the Saudis are going to the end on the crackdown. But eventually things are going to explode because the heavy hands of the Saudis in Bahrain and in eastern part of Saudi Arabia will not continue forever because the people wanted to have their own rights in their own country; they want to live with dignity and freedom and they do not want to be repressed by the Saudis or the Bahrainis.
There is major civil rights violation in Bahrain and in Saudi Arabia and those are not being addressed.
The level of poverty that exists in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia is huge where people are not allowed to take certain jobs [because they were sacked from their previous jobs].
This is a total violation of all humanity norm and rule and I think the Saudis will put all their resources and they have been putting all their resources to crack down in Bahrain and in their eastern part of their country.
Q: How do you perceive the continued silence of countries such as the United States and Britain to the constant violations of human rights taking place in Bahrain?
Wazne: The Americans never cared about the human dignities that is being violated in Bahrain or the eastern part of Saudi Arabia. All they care about is their economic interests; they care about the oil, the strategic location that actually exhibited in Bahrain, their major base, the Fifth Fleet which is actually located in Bahrain and they care about the flow of oil and natural gas in that region.
So the Americans have not actually been quiet. They have been helping in the crackdown by supplying weapons to the Bahrainis as we witnesses just a week ago or more so when the Crown Prince met with Hilary Clinton and she decided to sell more arms to the Bahrainis.
This is a total violation of the concept of democracy that always the United States talked about because here they are selling weapons to crack down against the people of Bahrain.
America is committing a gross violation of human rights in Bahrain and it is accomplice in these crimes that are taking place in Bahrain. There is huge crime that is taking place in Bahrain and the world has to wake up and see what is happening.
/129