Analyst: "West keeps silent on Bahrain uprising to preserve interests"

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The comments come as Bahrainis have held protests in 50 spots across the Persian Gulf sheikhdom to voice their anger over the killing of a teenage boy. Hussein al-Jaziri, 16, was shot dead on Thursday during a demonstration in the Daih village near the capital Manama marking the second anniversary of the uprising against the Al Khalifa regime. Press TV has talked with Ibrahim Moussawi, political commentator from the Lebanese capital city of Beirut to shed more light on the issue at hand. He is joined by two additional guests on Press TV’s The Debate program: Rodney Shakespeare, chairman of the Committee against Torture in Bahrain from London and Lawrence J. Korb, with the Center for American Progress from Washington D.C. What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview. Press TV: The reforms or talks, the talks, Ibrahim Moussawi I would like to ask you, is the regime there sincere? We understand that even this latest run of talks, there were no official representation; only ministers and many are saying that in no way to have talks or dialogue. That the regime there only has the ministers involved in the talks, not official representation of the government and they are saying that that is going ro lead to failure. Moussawi: Well, I mean I did not know whether it should be possible for the Bahraini people whether they should give an opportunity for any kind of negotiations. My understanding, the dialogue ways should always be open. This is the suggestion of everyone who wants to see very soon outcome for the crisis there but I believe that the Bahrainis have suffered enough and the authorities have to take a very straightforward, honest, crystal-clear step in order to show that it is ready to go into the negotiations, it is ready not to give concessions but at least to tell the people that it is honest in the steps towards the negotiations. When you talk about people who are not official, who are not giving enough authority in order to go into the negotiations, this is going to make a big problem, actually, and I believe that this is not going to lead to anywhere. Press TV: Ibrahim Moussawi, I would like to ask you about the role that Saudi Arabia is playing here and what are they afraid of since they were the ones who sent in those troops onto Bahraini soil. Some called it an invasion. What are they afraid of regarding the revolution there? Moussawi: When we talk about the role of Saudi Arabia, we are talking about the same problem actually. They have problem in the Qatif also in the Saudi Arabia and I believe that the kind of intervention that they made against the will of the Bahrainis, against the international law, it has been viewed by some of the Bahrainis as a certain kind of occupation and I believe that this is not a constructive role that they are playing there. This is a very negative role, this is not good for Saudi Arabia on the long-term. They think that they are trying to stop this revolution, they are going to stop this uprising, but nobody can strip the people from their rights when they have the will, when they have the resolve, when they have this self-confidence, when they have trust and most importantly when they have the faith that this is their right and they want it. What are they asking for? What the Bahrainis really want? They are asking for reforms in the political system, they are asking for reforms in the social system and here I want to join my voice to my colleague, to one of the gentlemen here, I believe Mr. Rodney Shakespeare, when he talked about that they should be reinstated, they should be compensated, when he said that the United Kingdom and the United States of America are afraid of democracy because it is going to bring people, who really want real independence and real freedom and real sovereignty, who will not accept the presence of foreign military bases in their own country, who want to have their own decisions free from any outside intervention. Yes they are afraid of democracy, yes they want hypocrisy, yes they do not want the people to come to their rights, otherwise just tell me and I believe that everybody would agree with this. This is the most peaceful uprising that we have ever seen in the whole Arab World and I believe we know as many people know, when they have a quarrel over a football game in one of the streets in London or in the United States, you have more people, more causalities, I mean clashes among the people, than what we have in Bahrain with the people who have been under persecution for a long time.This is one of the most ..., this is the genuine democracy that we can talk about. When people commit themselves to their own rights, when they sacrifice and they do not resort to violent means. The problem is that the authorities are turning a blind eye to their demands; the problem is that the international community, the United States and all of those Western countries that always boast and preach democracy, while they are exercising hypocrisy, they are turning a blind eye to what is happening.So between the deaf ear and blind eye, the people continue to pay but we are very sure that whether the people in the Persian Gulf, whether the Saudis, whether the others like it or not, the demands of the people are going to be met. This is a real, genuine, democratic revolution of the people of the country asking to have a country, to have a state. They cannot live under authorities that is not representative, that is not legal, that does not come and does not spring from the will and the resolve of its own people. Press TV: Well, Ibrahim Moussawi we have our guest there talking about the United States but yet at the same time the United States has pushed for reforms but at the same time it is supporting Saudi Arabia, because..., well, I can name a few reasons maybe you can do better than me; largest buyer of arms from Saudi Arabia, not to mention, of course, the investment that the Saudis make in the United States. The role that the United States has played, your analysis on that? Moussawi: Well, of course, I mean when we talk about the Persian Gulf countries, we know very well, the kind of relation that exists between the United States of America and the Persian Gulf countries, the Arab countries [of the] Persian Gulf. Those Arab countries in the Persian Gulf are actually..., in the Persian Gulf, everywhere; they are supporters and they are like dictated by the United States of America. You are taking here about a completely different project that they always go into its orbit and they are part of this project. They are very well-known for supporting the United States of America and if you recall the history, we had many of the officials in the Persian Gulf, who said that they care very much for the welfare Americans and of America and they have this kind of military deals, military shipments, weapons that they buy in billions of dollars and this makes great fortunes for those who are going to buy and for those who are going to take the commission, let alone that we have the fuel, oil. The fuel, oil is very important, the petroleum, for the continuation of the American machine and the American industries and they take it with preferable prices. They have favorable position in taking the good prices and we know that Saudi Arabia exercises certain pressure on the OPEC countries in order to keep the level of the prices on a certain level. So you are talking about the multifaceted benefits that the United States takes; that is why they would turn their blind eye to all of the exercises and to all kinds of the repression that are being exercised by the Bahrainis and by many other countries, the Arab countries, in the Persian Gulf. So here you are talking about mutual relations, they give them their support, they keep them in their places, in their positions, while they take the benefit, the military, the weapon deals and the petroleum and all of these complex businesses that we can talk about in the United States and in the consumerist, capitalist economy that we have in the Western countries. Press TV: Ibrahim Moussawi, the sectarian issue has been blamed on Saudi Arabia in terms of what is going on, not to mention the regime there in Bahrain. Why are they pushing that agenda? Moussawi: Well, we know, this is a deeply entrenched issue in the region, actually. The people in the region have never witnessed this kind of rising tension between the sects and then when you have a certain system who feels that it is weak and it needs all kinds of weapons in order to strengthen its position, then they might resort to different kinds of things. Here when you talk about certain regimes that try to sow the seeds of discord between the different confessions and in the sectarian agenda, then you know very well that they have got all of their weapons out of their pockets, who now resort to this kind of thing. I believe that the Persian Gulf countries and many Arab countries, when they go into this kind of weapon in order to use..., in order to divide, conquer and rule, in order to make people go against each other, then this tells you very clearly how much of weakness they have got and how much of fear they have got from their own people.End item/ 149