(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - A political analyst says the Al Khalifa regime's suppression of the Bahraini people is futile as it will only fan the flames of the revolution and 'lead to more killings and more bloodshed.'
The comment comes as anti-regime protesters in Bahrain have held overnight rallies in defiance of a standing government ban on such protests as the second anniversary of the anti-government uprising in the country draws closer.
Rallies were staged in several towns and villages across the tiny Persian Gulf sheikdom on Monday.
The demonstrators chanted slogans, calling for the downfall of the Al Khalifa regime.
Interview with Ridwan Rizk in Beirut to further discuss the issue. What follows is a rough transcription of the interview.
Q: Ridwan Rizk as the report indicated that the second anniversary is approaching we're looking at courts carrying out unfair verdicts Bassiouni report came out still illegal detentions continuing stop stripping of citizenships, etcetera, etcetera. Where do you see this revolution going in this anniversary that's coming up in just less than a month's time?
Rizk: Well, I think al-Khalifa have made a big mistake by turning their deaf ear for the opposition calling for serious dialogue with the government to rebuild a new Bahrain on [the basis of] a new regime; democratically recognizing the rights of the Bahraini people and such a thing did not happen at all.
So instead of that the king al-Khalifa urged help from Saudi Arabia which used what they called the desert shield forces to invade Bahrain and bring the Bahraini people down on their knees trying to finish off this peaceful revolution till now but this also did not work. So the Wahabis who are pushing the al-Khalifa to turn their deaf ear to serious talk with the Bahraini political leaders will not reach anywhere.
At the end the al-Khalifa has two choices; either they build up a serious talk with the Bahraini political leaders specially al-Wefaq Party or they have to eliminate this revolution by doing more brutal actions; killing and jailing and stripping some leaders from their nationality.
And this will not lead to anywhere but to fire more of the uprising from the Bahraini people and that might lead some ways for bloody-- or to use some kind of violent action from the Bahraini people because the Bahraini people have you know accepted all these kinds of actions from the government and self responsibility that they don't want to use any arms or to do any bloodshed against the government because this will only lead to more killings and more bloodshed from both sides.
So it seems that the regime in Bahrain does not understand the policy that deals with the revolution in Bahrain [because the bloodshed] did not lead anywhere at all; the revolution is still strong and is growing stronger.
Now we are ending the second anniversary of the revolution and it seems that the revolution now is more determined and more organized and more acknowledgeable of their demands; first they called for some kind of changes in building up democracy. Now they are calling for stepping down or the ending of the al-Khalifa family from ruling Bahrain.
So the al-Khalifa now will face very serious demand from the revolution and political leaders only to step down and build a new Bahraini regime. So by these actions that they have used against the Bahraini people, you know, [they get] nothing but pushing the Bahraini people to be more determined and more aware that they have no way out except that they keep going even if they are going to pay higher prices.
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The comment comes as anti-regime protesters in Bahrain have held overnight rallies in defiance of a standing government ban on such protests as the second anniversary of the anti-government uprising in the country draws closer.
Rallies were staged in several towns and villages across the tiny Persian Gulf sheikdom on Monday.
The demonstrators chanted slogans, calling for the downfall of the Al Khalifa regime.
Interview with Ridwan Rizk in Beirut to further discuss the issue. What follows is a rough transcription of the interview.
Q: Ridwan Rizk as the report indicated that the second anniversary is approaching we're looking at courts carrying out unfair verdicts Bassiouni report came out still illegal detentions continuing stop stripping of citizenships, etcetera, etcetera. Where do you see this revolution going in this anniversary that's coming up in just less than a month's time?
Rizk: Well, I think al-Khalifa have made a big mistake by turning their deaf ear for the opposition calling for serious dialogue with the government to rebuild a new Bahrain on [the basis of] a new regime; democratically recognizing the rights of the Bahraini people and such a thing did not happen at all.
So instead of that the king al-Khalifa urged help from Saudi Arabia which used what they called the desert shield forces to invade Bahrain and bring the Bahraini people down on their knees trying to finish off this peaceful revolution till now but this also did not work. So the Wahabis who are pushing the al-Khalifa to turn their deaf ear to serious talk with the Bahraini political leaders will not reach anywhere.
At the end the al-Khalifa has two choices; either they build up a serious talk with the Bahraini political leaders specially al-Wefaq Party or they have to eliminate this revolution by doing more brutal actions; killing and jailing and stripping some leaders from their nationality.
And this will not lead to anywhere but to fire more of the uprising from the Bahraini people and that might lead some ways for bloody-- or to use some kind of violent action from the Bahraini people because the Bahraini people have you know accepted all these kinds of actions from the government and self responsibility that they don't want to use any arms or to do any bloodshed against the government because this will only lead to more killings and more bloodshed from both sides.
So it seems that the regime in Bahrain does not understand the policy that deals with the revolution in Bahrain [because the bloodshed] did not lead anywhere at all; the revolution is still strong and is growing stronger.
Now we are ending the second anniversary of the revolution and it seems that the revolution now is more determined and more organized and more acknowledgeable of their demands; first they called for some kind of changes in building up democracy. Now they are calling for stepping down or the ending of the al-Khalifa family from ruling Bahrain.
So the al-Khalifa now will face very serious demand from the revolution and political leaders only to step down and build a new Bahraini regime. So by these actions that they have used against the Bahraini people, you know, [they get] nothing but pushing the Bahraini people to be more determined and more aware that they have no way out except that they keep going even if they are going to pay higher prices.
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