Bahrain: Sheikh Ali Salman’s comments in Wednesday’s press conference

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Sheikh Ali Salman, the Secretary-General of Al-Wefaq National Islamic Society said in a press conference yesterday that the suspension of the dialogue is open until positive developments come about.He added, “Suspending our participation in the dialogue is broader than the arrest of Khalil Al Marzooq. The opposition parties will discuss all decisions made by the regime and the international community. We will revise our decision whether we to return or withdraw from the dialogue. This will be a joint decision by the opposition parties”.Salman mentioned that communications with diplomats have not stopped since Tuesday and that there are strong condemnations and refusal to the arrest of Al-Marzooq . “We expect declarations of stances regarding this issue as a moral and political responsibility toward human rights”, he added, “if these states have a true desire to maintain the political process to reach a solution, I think they are requested to declare a clear stance refusing attacks on political activism, this includes bans on protests, arrests of opposition figures, issuance of decrees and disturbance of the natural political context”.He said, “The international community is being tested in Bahrain on double standards and the credibility of its slogans. The coming days are part of this test and its stance will be further revealed, but in general, it has lost in Bahrain. This is not what we have are saying, the big American, British and European newspapers say that the community was not moral and responsible enough towards the demands of the Bahraini people. Even inside administrations, some believe that their stance towards Bahrain must be consistent to their declaration of adopting support of human rights and freedom and democratic transition.Salman blamed the regime for the current situation and all what happened since 14th February. He said the regime is refusing the people’s demands for reform. He added, the ruling dynasty refuses to share power with the people in a democratic political state, the regime is responsible for any consequences for escalating measures in the political and security frameworks.“We encourage genuine inclusive dialogue and will always support such dialogue and will be part of it”, he stated, “when the dialogue continues for nine months and we find obstacles with an unclear vision, and the use of the dialogue to cover up repression, it is natural that we revise our decision and we are now in the phase of suspending participation. If the situation continues like this we might withdraw from the dialogue, though we don’t hope so”. He mentioned that the opposition parties will closely follow the developments and will take their decision, to either reverse on the suspension or walk out from the dialogue, within a given period of time.If the regime thinks suppressive clampdown might make the political societies or the people surrender, this is an illusion. We call for a national mature state to reach a swift political consensus that achieves the aspirations of the Bahraini people. If the regime refuses the voice of reason, we, the political societies with our people will continue our revolution and we will not respond to any kind of violence and provocation by the regime./129