Lebanese academic: Bahraini regime takes advantage of Syria unrest

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A Lebanese academic says the Manama regime takes advantage of the fact that world attention has been focused on the current unrest in Syria in order to crack down on anti-government demonstrations in Bahrain without attracting much global attention.“The Bahrainis and the Saudis are using the fact that all attention is drawn into Syria and the Syrian crisis in order for them to crack down on the protests in Bahrain without being checked by public opinion throughout the world,” said Jamal Wakim, a professor at the Lebanese International University, on Monday.“We need to relate things in Bahrain to what is going on in Syria.”The Saudi-backed Bahraini forces continue the violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrations across the country.An 80-year-old Bahraini female recently died due to the inhalation of toxic tear gas fired by the Manama regime forces.Police also raided the house of Sheikh Ali Salman, the leader of the main opposition group, al-Wefaq, in a village near the capital a few days ago.The Lebanese professor further stated that the Bahraini government will “keep on going with this process (of cracking down) but I do not believe that it will calm down the opposition.”In addition, Wakim censured Western media for their silence about the ongoing situation in Bahrain.“There are few… humanitarian organizations that are concerned about the situation in Bahrain, however, their voice is not broadcast on Western media,” he noted. /129