Bahrain opposition eases talks conditions
Source: Agencies |
March 21, 2011, Monday
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BAHRAIN'S main opposition groups have eased conditions for talks to end a crisis that has drawn in neighboring Gulf armies and raised tensions in the oil-exporting region.
Led by the largest Shi'ite opposition party Wefaq, they called late on Saturday on security forces to free all those detained in the wake of a month of protests, end their crackdown and ask Gulf Arab troops to leave so talks could begin.
"Prepare a healthy atmosphere for the start of political dialogue between the opposition and the government on a basis that can put our country on the track to real democracy and away from the abyss," their statement said.
The group appeared to retreat from much more ambitious conditions for talks it set last week, including the creation of a new government not dominated by royals and the establishment of a special elected council to redraft Bahrain's constitution.
The new conditions also include ending sectarian rhetoric and removing forces who have surrounded a major hospital in recent days.
Bahrain security forces moved on Wednesday to end weeks of protests by mainly Shi'ite demonstrators that prompted the king to declare martial law and drew in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbors.
The ferocity of the crackdown, in which troops and police fanned out across Bahrain, imposed a curfew and banned all public gatherings and marches, has stunned Bahrain's majority Shi'ites and angered the region's non-Arab Shi'ite power, Iran.
More than 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites. Most are campaigning for a constitutional monarchy, but calls by hardliners for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed Sunnis, who fear the unrest serves Iran, separated from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by only a short stretch of Gulf waters.
Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon, complained to the United Nations and asked neighbors to join it in urging Saudi Arabia to withdraw forces from Bahrain.
Bahrain condemned an Iranian protest outside the Saudi diplomatic mission in Tehran, its state news agency said, after reports that some 700 Iranian demonstrators broke windows at the consulate and raised a Bahraini flag over the building's gate.
Yesterday was the first working day after a week that saw closures of schools and universities to prevent outbreaks of sectarian clashes that had been erupting almost daily.
An uneasy calm spread through the city as most Bahrainis went back to work and there were fewer checkpoints in the streets, though helicopters buzzed over Shi'ite areas.
Bahrain tried to bring life back to normal, shortening the 12-hour curfew that had been imposed on large areas of Manama including the Seef Mall area, Pearl roundabout and the financial district to the diplomatic area.
Led by the largest Shi'ite opposition party Wefaq, they called late on Saturday on security forces to free all those detained in the wake of a month of protests, end their crackdown and ask Gulf Arab troops to leave so talks could begin.
"Prepare a healthy atmosphere for the start of political dialogue between the opposition and the government on a basis that can put our country on the track to real democracy and away from the abyss," their statement said.
The group appeared to retreat from much more ambitious conditions for talks it set last week, including the creation of a new government not dominated by royals and the establishment of a special elected council to redraft Bahrain's constitution.
The new conditions also include ending sectarian rhetoric and removing forces who have surrounded a major hospital in recent days.
Bahrain security forces moved on Wednesday to end weeks of protests by mainly Shi'ite demonstrators that prompted the king to declare martial law and drew in troops from fellow Sunni-ruled neighbors.
The ferocity of the crackdown, in which troops and police fanned out across Bahrain, imposed a curfew and banned all public gatherings and marches, has stunned Bahrain's majority Shi'ites and angered the region's non-Arab Shi'ite power, Iran.
More than 60 percent of Bahrainis are Shi'ites. Most are campaigning for a constitutional monarchy, but calls by hardliners for the overthrow of the monarchy have alarmed Sunnis, who fear the unrest serves Iran, separated from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain by only a short stretch of Gulf waters.
Iran, which supports Shi'ite groups in Iraq and Lebanon, complained to the United Nations and asked neighbors to join it in urging Saudi Arabia to withdraw forces from Bahrain.
Bahrain condemned an Iranian protest outside the Saudi diplomatic mission in Tehran, its state news agency said, after reports that some 700 Iranian demonstrators broke windows at the consulate and raised a Bahraini flag over the building's gate.
Yesterday was the first working day after a week that saw closures of schools and universities to prevent outbreaks of sectarian clashes that had been erupting almost daily.
An uneasy calm spread through the city as most Bahrainis went back to work and there were fewer checkpoints in the streets, though helicopters buzzed over Shi'ite areas.
Bahrain tried to bring life back to normal, shortening the 12-hour curfew that had been imposed on large areas of Manama including the Seef Mall area, Pearl roundabout and the financial district to the diplomatic area.
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