Sheikh Ali Salman: Our Priority is National Solution, Bahraini regime is pushing the country to a regional battlefield

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) Sheikh Ali Salman, the Secretary-General of Al Wefaq National Islamic Society commented on questions about the impact of the regional settlement on the situation in Bahrain in the Manama Dialogue Program conducted by Al Wefaq society. He stated, “If the Bahraini people are to be respected, and a will for real solution exists, then Bahrain will still be able to produce a local solution. If the official view is the same as that of 14 February, then the solution will be regional or international, on .”the expense of a local one The program began with a question on potential solutions for the Bahraini political crisis, and whether a local solution is still in hand. Salman commented by comparing the response of the Bahraini regime with other regimes in the region, that also had faced uprisings for change. He said some Arab states were able to settle their problems locally; Morocco for instance, made constitutional amendments based on popular demands and went for election of government. While Oman dismissed the minister of royal court and tried to speedup employment of citizens. But Bahrain took a .”different pathWhen asked whether the regime had proposed any solution based on citizenship, Salman responded that the regime is suffering from structural problems, and it is not easy to push it to reform. He added that the only initiative made from the official side was that of the crown prince’s in March 2011, but the regime abandoned it in favour of the security solution and cracked down on the protests. Salman spoke about details before the entry of the GCC forces to Bahrain territory. He said, before 14 March 2011, the Kuwaiti Emir made an initiative for a political solution that included financial aid from Kuwait, but this was faced with a “regional veto”. The intervention of the GCC forces took the Bahraini issue to the regional level and this is being entrenched day after day, he added. Salman also referred to the meetings that his party had had with the Americans and the Europeans, who were convinced from the beginning, that there is a need for political solution, however, the regime was not allowing progress, he said. “Even before the eruption of the revolution in February 2011, the regime had not dealt positively with the political parties that engaged in the political process” he added. “We proposed 7 constitutional amendments during the 1st legislative term, but they were refused, and the Americans and Europeans were aware of this. The regime constantly stopped any positive ideas made by the political powers and did not respond to development”, Salman commented. “Its embarrassing that this regime is running away from everything, it is not keeping up to the pledges it had made before the international community, such as the implementation of the BICI recommendations, real dialogue and reforms. The regime is now known to the world of not keeping promises”. Salman commented on the post-Bassiouni situation, saying, “From his human rights perspective, Mr. Bassiouni was supposed to conclude in his report that this Government is not qualified to stay in office. His committee was also supposed to follow up on the implementation of its recommendations”. He added, “Bassiouni is an extraordinary person, he spent his life in the international community, but his report failed to put a binding solution for Bahrain. After the report, the Government of Bahrain was not supposed to remain in office, not even one hour”. Salman was asked if he supported regional and international intervention to find solutions for the Bahraini crisis. Commenting on the question, he said, “We are with any national initiative, we will not hesitate to go to solution. However, it’s not rational to ignore external initiatives while the repression and discrimination continues. The discrimination in Bahrain is close to that of South Africa, and some people even say Bahrain is maybe worse. We have invited the United Nations Secretary-General and other world personalities to help find a solution for Bahrain”.On the nuclear settlement, he said, “I think the nuclear settlement will be positively reflected in the area. It opens horizons between big players in the area like the U.S, the West and Iran. I hope this easing would be invested in easing various issues, including Bahrain. “We have and will continue to urge all parties to make Bahrain a meeting point for all, we said this before the Iranian nuclear settlement, and this is still our view. We don’t want Bahrain to be a regional battle field, let it be a place of agreement. This settlement is not only in Bahrain’s benefit, I believe it will serve to calm things in the whole region”. He went on, “To build on what I said, we invite Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the regional states to be part of a positive solution in Bahrain, this is in the benefit of KSA too. Bahrain can benefit from this circumstance”. “I think things are beginning to pave the way for a political solution in Bahrain. Over nearly three years, the official game stood on a couple of lies; that Iran is behind the uprising in Bahrain, and all know that the youths didn’t ask for anyone’s advice when they protested in the roundabout. We also know that the official addressing of protest violence is exaggerated- while we remain to condemn violence-; not one governmental building has been burnt during the 3 years like what happened in other Arab Spring revolutions (just to compare the peacefulness of the Bahraini revolution).Salman said that during the coming 6 months or more the opposition parties will continue to work on finding a solution for the Bahraini crisis.Salman also mentioned that the opposition parties will stick to the Manama Document because it represents the demands of a wide faction of the Bahraini people and it has some common ground with the principles proposed by the crown prince and therefore it is a good foundation for democratic transition in Bahrain. Another question said why doesn’t the opposition call for a Geneva conference to resolve the situation in Bahrain? “Bahrain needs a genuine session, less than a Geneva conference. If ambassadors of key states to Bahrain dealt seriously with the problem, it can be resolved”. Salman was addressed with a question on the report recently issued by the House of Commons in the U.K; “The British Foreign Affairs Ministry has been criticized because it made an impression that Britain supports the tyranny?”. He said, I agree with this report, the British policy should take another direction, instead of complimenting the regime, and praising the Ombudsman office. What is the point of an ombudsman if it can’t stop torture? I think the British policy should be committing to what was mentioned in the report of the House of Commons, because its previous policy failed to resolve the problem”. Salman said his party will communicate with the British ambassador and foreign ministry addressing the report of the House of Commons and the people’s views. It is clear that the regime is continuing in its repressive measures, he added, blaming the political leadership for creating problems, he said most diplomats believe so too. Parliaments in the world, rights NGOs, study centers and tens of press releases believe that what’s happening in Bahrain is worrying. “The report of the House of Commons says if the regime does not push for genuine reforms then they demand UK government to consider putting Bahrain as a country of concern, this is a progress”, Salman said.Salman mentioned that he does not think the Bahraini crisis will be discussed in the Manama Dialogue forum sessions. However, he said it is very likely to be discussed in the side talks of the forum, because delegates will not come to Bahrain to talk in irrelevant issues. Finally, he stated, “I am optimistic because many difficulties have been eased, any Saudi-Iranian tension is not in our benefit. I believe that the revolution will produce a solution”./149