13th May 2012

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain PM for Gulf union, opposition wants referendum
Bahrain's premier has backed Saudi Arabia's plan for the creation of a Gulf union, a report said Sunday, but the nation's Shiite opposition is demanding the proposal be put to a referendum. The "option of a (Gulf Cooperation Council) union has become urgent," Bahraini Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman was quoted as saying by the Saudi Al-Riyadh daily. Khalifa said the six GCC nations, whose foreign ministers were meeting in Riyadh ahead of a meeting of their countries' leaders in the Saudi capital on Monday, must cooperate to ensure security in the region. The GCC must "concentrate during this period on achieving and ensuring security and increasing coordination in the fields of security, military and defence by adopting a unified Gulf security structure to protect the council's states," Khalifa told the newspaper. Read More Reprinted here:
http://www.omantribune.com/ index.php? page=news&id=119024&heading= Other%20Top%20Stories

Saudi and Bahrain expected to seek union-minister

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are expected to announce closer political union at a meeting of Gulf Arab leaders on Monday, a Bahraini minister said, a move dismissed by the opposition as a ruse to avoid political reform. The decision is part of a strategy to increase integration within the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), as the organisation's six nations fret about Iran's power in the region and the presence of al Qaeda after the Arab uprisings. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain might initially seek closer union, local media have said,

as both share a concern about discontent among Shi'ite Muslims against their ruling Sunni dynasties, and accuse Shi'ite Iran of fomenting it - a charge Iran denies. Saudi security forces entered Bahrain in March 2011 ahead of a crackdown on prodemocracy protests which had been led mainly by majority Shi'ite Muslims against the Sunni Al Khalifa monarchy, a U.S. ally. Read More Reprinted here:
http://www.reuters.com/article/ 2012/05/14/us-gulf-unionidUSBRE84C07120120514 http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/ Middle-East/2012/May-14/173273saudi-arabia-bahrain-expected-toseek-union.ashx#axzz1ulgnWQIF http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/ 0,7340,L-4228500,00.html

Deal with Saudis to shore up Bahrain's repressive regime

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are expected to announce a closer political union at a meeting of the six Gulf monarchies today. The move is being seen by Bahrain's Shia majority as an attempt by the Sunni al-Khalifa royal family to retain their monopoly of political power. Saudi troops leading a 1,500strong force from the Arab Gulf states entered Bahrain in March last year as the

Bahraini government began a campaign of brutal repression against pro-democracy protesters. The authorities have claimed the protests were orchestrated by Iran although both the United States and the government's own commission of inquiry have said there is no evidence of this. The unity proposal between the two kingdoms comes as the Bahraini opposition says arrests, beatings and police violence have increased since the Formula 1 Grand Prix was staged in the island kingdom last month amid pledges of reform from the government. Read More

Union tops GCC summit agenda

Closer political union of Gulf countries tops the agenda of the 14th consultative Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit meeting here Monday.

During the last summit, King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, called for transforming the six-nation group from the phase of cooperation to a union. That call, widely welcomed by GCC states, as meeting the aspirations of the people in the Gulf is the focus of Mondays summit meeting. Read More top Gulf official, requesting anonymity.

Gulf union will help realise dream: Bahrain PM

A united Gulf is the great dream of GCC people and this will enable all to live in security, peace, prosperity and stability, said Bahrain's Prime Minister yesterday, ahead of tomorrow's mini-summit in Riyadh. His Royal Highness Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa called for co-

ordination between GCC countries to be stepped up, especially in the light of exceptional circumstances facing the region and the need to formulate a clear strategy to face the challenges. They make the "union" option imperative, to meet aspirations of the GCC countries and peoples of the region, he said. Read More

Gulf Union on the anvil?

Gulf leaders at a meeting in Riyadh on Monday will discuss a Saudi proposal to develop their six-nation council into a union, likely to start with the kingdom and unrest-hit Bahrain, officials said. The Gulf Cooperation Council leaders will discuss a form of union between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, said a

Bahrains state minister for information, Samira Rajab, revealed that a Saudi proposal to evolve the GCC into a union will be on the agenda of the Riyadh meeting, adding that the idea backed by Bahrain could start with two or three members. This union could start with two or three GCC members, she told AFP. Read More

Bahrain extends detention of human rights activist

Rajab was detained earlier this month for releasing tweets deemed insulting to the government, but the public prosecution ordered his detention extended by "one week" on Saturday for participating in the January demonstration, his lawyer Mohamed al-Jishi said. He also faces a trial, the second hearing for which is to

be held on May 22, for participating in a separate demonstration three months ago in Manama. Meanwhile, Rajab is also to face a new trial starting May 16 over his tweets, his lawyer said. Rajab, who has led protests against the authorities since a Shiite-led uprising erupted in February last year, was arrested at the airport on May 5, as he returned from Lebanon, for "insulting a statutory body via Twitter," Mr Jishi had said earlier. Read More but he left with hands full of gifts from the U.S. State Department, which announced new arms sales to Bahrain today. The crown prince's son just graduated from American University, where the Bahraini ruling family recently shelled out millions for a new building at AU's School of International Service. Read More genuinely positive intentions," Crown Prince Salman Bin Hamad Al Khalifa said. "It is this objective that we have been seeking to achieve under the leadership of HM King Hamad in order to preserve the nation's interests." Prince Salman, who was on an official visit to Washington, said that despite the difficulties compounded by the tension and escalating violence, the genuine sense of national pride and the higher interests of the nation will prevail in Bahrain. Read More

Bahrain extends detention of tweeting activist

Bahrain has extended the detention of rights activist Nabeel Rajab for participating in a January anti-government rally, his lawyer said on Sunday, after he was arrested over tweets deemed insulting to the government. Rajab was detained earlier this month for releasing tweets deemed insulting to the government, but the

public prosecution ordered his detention extended by one week on Saturday for participating in the January demonstration, his lawyer Mohamed al-Jishi told AFP. The official BNA news agency confirmed the order. He also faces a trial, the second hearing for which is to be held on May 22, for participating in a separate demonstration three months ago in Manama. Read More court last year for participating in the uprising by Bahrain's majority Shiites, who seek to end the political dominance of the ruling Sunni dynasty. The convictions for the group and about a dozen others are now being reviewed by a civilian court. At least 50 people have died in Bahrain's unrest since February 2011. Read More Reprinted here:
Wife: Jailed Bahraini hunger striker appears in better condition - 5/13/2012 7:43:06 AM | Newser Wife: Jailed Bahraini hunger striker appears in better condition - The Washington Post Wife visits jailed Bahraini hunger striker - World - TheState.com

Obama administration seeks to bolster Bahraini crown prince with arms sales
Bahraini Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa came to Washington this week to attend his son's college graduation,

Wife visits jailed Bahraini hunger striker

The wife of a jailed Bahraini activist on hunger strike for more than three months says his condition appears better, but he is still only taking water and juice in his protest against government crackdowns in the Gulf kingdom. Khadija al-Musawi says she visited her husband, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, for about two hours Sunday. Al-Khawaja and seven other activists were sentenced to life in prison by a military-led

Need for good intentions to achieve national accord, Crown Prince says
Good intentions by all segments of the Bahraini society are required to achieve a national consensus, the crown prince has said. "The drive towards reaching a national solution by all sections is an objective that cannot be achieved unless there are