17th April 2013

BAHRAIN MEDIA ROUNDUP

Bahrain opposition calls for stepped up protests ahead of F1
Bahrain's main opposition bloc called on Wednesday for stepped up peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations before Sunday'sFormula One race, saying the global spotlight shone on the kingdom by the Grand Prix would help showcase its message of reform. Sheikh Ali Salman, leader of the Shi'ite Muslim-led group al-Wefaq, added in remarks to Reuters that he would be prepared to meet Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone in order to advance his demands for political reform in the island kingdom. "We are open to meet anybody," he said. Ecclestone has said he is willing to meet opposition gures ahead of the race. Read More BBC News reports that these activists feel that due to the governments terrible human rights record and blatant discriminatory policies towards Shiite Bahrainis that the race should be cancelled. Khalil al Marzooq a senior leader of the Al Wefaq party stated that his party does "not support any violence either from security forces or protesters." Read More political divisions are fueling debate about whether the event should take place at all. The race passed without serious incidents last year, although members of the Force India Team were whisked away through tear gas after running into clashes between government forces and protestors calling for reforms. Read More

Bahrain tensions spike ahead of F1 race

Protesters in Bahrain plan to step up demands for reform ahead of this weekend's Formula One Grand Prix, setting the scene for a showdown with authorities determined to stage an incident-free race. The main opposition AlWefaq political bloc has called for a massive rally to coincide with free practice on Friday, the same day the

radical February 14 Movement has urged youths to protest under the slogan "Volcano of Anger". The Shiite Al-Wefaq is to protest under the banner "Democracy is Our Right". "We are not against the Formula One Grand Prix, but we want the world to hear our demands -democracy, respect of human rights, and an elected government," said leading Al-Wefaq gure Khalil al-Marzooq. Read More

Opposition in Bahrain calls for big protest before F1 race

The Shiite Al Wefaq opposition party in Bahrain has called on Bahrainis to gather for a major demonstration before the Formula One Grand Prix race scheduled to take place in the kingdom on Sunday.

Bahrain opposition calls for big protests ahead of F1 race

The main opposition society in Bahrain has called for a major demonstration ahead of Sunday's Formula One Grand Prix race in the Gulf kingdom.

Khalil al Marzooq, a senior Al Wefaq leader, told the BBC that the protest would take place along a major motorway, Budaiya Highway on Friday. But he said the society will not call for protests on the day of the race. Read More that pro-democracy activists have equated to martial law.

Protests Heat Up Ahead of Bahrain Grand Prix

Racers from one of the world's most followed sports will descend on the island-nation of Bahrain this weekend to resume their battle for the championship crown. It's been three years since protests inspired by the Arab Spring began, and the country's unresolved

Bahrain Grand Prix 2013: opposition group plans a major protest as regime introduces 'martial law'
As Formula One drivers arrived on Wednesday night for Sundays race, Khalil al-Marzooq, leader of the Bahraini opposition movement, Al-Wefaq, conrmed that a major demonstration would be staged on the Budaiya Highway outside Manama despite a police presence

Further clashes between isolated Shia villagers and security forces are expected north of the Sakhir circuit as it was conrmed that Jean Todt, the head of Formula Ones governing body, would not be attending the controversial grand prix. AlMarzooq said: The government wants to believe the situation is normal. Bahrain is not normal. The only thing normal is the repression. Read More

F1: Tear gas used to quell Bahrain Grand Prix protests

Security forces red tear gas to disperse protesters at a secondary school in Bahrain as calls grew for this weekends Formula One race to be called off due to escalating violence.

The skirmishes came after the arrest of a student at the boys school, amid accusations that the government is arbitrarily arresting potential troublemakers ahead of the Grand Prix. The Interior Ministry said that thugs at Al Jabriya School in the capital Manama had been dealt with in line with the law. Read More

The Shiite Al-Wefaq is to protest under the banner "Democracy is Our Right".

Bahrain on edge ahead of Formula One race

The main opposition AlWefaq political bloc has called for a large rally to coincide with free practice on Friday, the same day the radical February 14 Movement has urged youths to protest under the slogan "Volcano of Anger".

"We are not against the Formula One Grand Prix, but we want the world to hear our demands democracy, respect of human rights, and an elected government," said leading Al-Wefaq gure Khalil al-Marzooq. Read More

Chicanery of the ruling elite in Bahrain hides dark and brutal road to conflict
There was tea and sweet cakes and buns piled on plates. We could hear a dog barking in a yard somewhere and a baby crying for its mother. It was all the trappings of normality but for the clandestine nature of the meeting. We had been driven to the outskirts of Manama, Bahrains capital, through busy streets and

then off road to a safe house where people who would usually be regarded as respectable members of society felt they would be able to speak without the fear of police intervention. They were quiet and polite, just as most Bahrainis appear to be to an outsider, but the message remains the same: Formula One is not welcome in the country. Protests are expected to be stepped up from today as the sport prepares to stage another grand prix overshadowed by political conict. Read More (subscription needed)

Bahrain GP struggles again with image

This weekends Bahrain Grand Prix will once again take place against a backdrop of political termoil.

The Gulf island kingdom has experienced antigovernment protesting and rioting on an almost daily basis for more than two years. But for the CEO of the Bahrain international circuit its business as usual in the build up to the fourth stop of the 2013 calendar. Read More For the second consecutive year, the race will proceed with great fanfare as the plight of dozens of athletes who weredetained and tortured for exercising their freedom of expression goes unnoticed. Many of these athletes weretargeted, arrested and defamed because of their participation in the "Athletes March," a peaceful march by athletes who supported the 14th February Revolution at the Pearl Roundabout. Some remain in jail. Read More

Crackdown Intensifies Before F1 in Bahrain

By Sayed Yousif AlMahafdah For the second consecutive year, Bahrain will host a Formula One (F1) race despite severe human rights violations documented by local and international human rights organizations, including the United Nations.

(Washington D.C.) Human Rights First

Race Cars And Repression - HuffPo Live

As Formula One preps for the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 19th, the crackdown on protestors continues, according to human rights organizations and journalists. But the billionaires who run F1 and the Gulf nation are going full speed ahead. Guests: Brian Dooley @dooley_dooley

David Hobbs @DavidHobbsDH (London, United Kingdom) HuffPost UK Executive Editor Henry Kleinespel @henrykleinespel (Gillingham, United Kingdom)Student in Engineering Husain Abdulla (Washington, DC) Founder and Director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain Watch Here

Bahrain Protests Heat Up Ahead of F1 Race

Anti-government protesters in Bahrain are stepping up their demonstrations as Formula One (F1) drivers and their teams head to Bahrain for Sundays Grand Prix auto race. A group of youth activists claimed responsibility for a car

bomb in Manama Friday, in which no one was injured. Some British lawmakers are calling for the head of F1 to cancel the race. Clashes between antigovernment protesters and security forces on the island of Sitra, just south of Manama Saturday lasted for more than eight hours the latest in an upsurge of violence ahead of Sundays F1 race. Read More

Formula One Teams Prepare For Bahrain Grand Prix Despite Protests
With only days to go until Formula 1 drivers compete for pole position at Sunday's (April 21) Bahrain Grand Prix, the race has once again sparked controversy in the Gulf island kingdom. Bahraini authorities said on Monday (April 15) they

would step up security before hosting the event after a series of explosions, including a gas cylinder blast that set a car ablaze in the Gulf nation's nancial district. On a wall along the street in the Bahraini town of Budaiya, a grafti drawing depicts the King of Bahrain driving a racing car and the words: "Boycott Formula 1 in Bahrain." Read More

means any protester who insults King Hamad will be jailed for up to ve years.

Bernie Ecclestone claims calls to cancel Bahrain Grand Prix are too late
Bernie Ecclestone has rejected a last-ditch plea for this weekends Bahrain Grand Prix to be cancelled. In the build-up to the race, daily protests in a number of villages across the Gulf island kingdom have taken place. That is despite a new law passed on Sunday which

Four non-governmental organisations wrote a letter this week to Ecclestone, the teams and their sponsors calling for a rethink on their commitment to the race, given Bahrains history on human rights. It claimed if the race went ahead, it will be taking place in a country whose government continues to commit gross human rights violations, from arbitrary arrests to torture. Read More measures against Shiite dissidents as the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom prepares for the Formula One Grand Prix. One measure included increasing the penalty for any statement or act deemed offensive to King Hamad Bin Issa Al Khalifah or the countrys ag and other national symbols. Read More

Protesters call for GP to be axed

A MAJOR anti-F1 protest is planned ahead of Sundays Bahrain Grand Prix. Activists have even demanded the race be cancelled.

But F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and FIA president Jean Todt insist it will go ahead as planned. Khalil al Marzooq, a senior Al Wefaq leader, announced the demonstration and declared: The government wants the world to believe the situation is normal. Read More calling for a constitutional monarchy and greater economic freedom. Three days later, protesters were violently evicted from Manamas Pearl Roundabout, and it only got worse. A state of emergency was enacted and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa let the Gulf Cooperation Councils Peninsula Shield Force enter the country to essentially enact martial law. This is on top of the use of torture on activists, show trials of medical professionals, and the recruitment of mercenaries. Read More

Bahrains Formula One Grand Prix Crackdown

For the third time in three years, Bahraini citizens are protesting the Formula One Grand Prix. And it looks like for the second time in two years, the Fdration Internationale de lAutomobile will ignore massive human and civil rights repression and let the race go as planned. Bahrains citizens have been abandoned by the world. Pro-democracy protests started in February 14, 2011, with activists

Rights group hits anti-terror crackdown before Bahrains Formula One Grand Prix
Bahrain was said to have launched a crackdown to prevent attacks on an international motor race. Amnesty International said Bahrain has intensied

Bahrains dark side Empty promises while repression goes unabated

With Bahrain about to host the 2013 Formula One Grand Prix, the spotlight has returned to the Gulf countrys human rights record. Amnesty Internationals Middle East and North

Africa Deputy Director, Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui, talks about the crackdown against anti-government protesters following the uprising two years ago. Whats been happening in Bahrain? In 2011, thousands of people took to the streets in Bahrain a small island nation in the Gulf to demand political reform and more rights following a string of similar protests across the Middle East. Read More

The Shia-Sunni Divide: Tunnel Vision Prevails

Tunnel vision prevails on opposite shores of the Gulf where governments execute policies based on perception rather than reality. They run the risk of being incapable of managing tensions that could threaten shipping through the strategic Strait

of Hormuz as well as create domestic turmoil in both Gulf states and Iran, notes James M. Dorsey. Middle East Online A widening schism along sectarian lines between Sunni and Shia Muslims was highlighted in two recent conferences, one in Bandar Abbas, Iran, the other in Bahrain. Read More