BAHRAIN:BAHRAIN SAID it had thwarted a plot to undermine security in the kingdom and neighbouring Gulf states, prompting claims the embattled royal family is implying an Iranian involvement to justify its violent quelling of pro-democracy protests last week.
Analysts and diplomats have reiterated there is little evidence that Iran has played a role in the turmoil. But there are concerns that last week’s crackdown on protesters and the arrival of Gulf forces in the kingdom could trigger a response from Iran. Last week troops from Saudi Arabia and police from the United Arab Emirates arrived in Bahrain to shore up the regime.
A crackdown has left at least 13 protesters dead and hundreds wounded since demonstrations first started on February 14th. Skirmishes between Shia youths and security forces continue to break out in villages outside Manama, the capital.
“An external plot has been fomented for 20 to 30 years for the ground to be ripe for subversive designs,” King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa said on Sunday. He said the plot, which could have spilt over to other Gulf Arab states, had failed, according to the official news agency. Hints at foreign involvement have usually been a reference to Iran.
Opposition parties in Bahrain, primarily comprising the majority Arab Shia population, have continually rejected claims they are taking orders from Iran.
“This is typical rhetoric from the government,” said Theodore Karasik, head of research at the Institute for Near East Gulf Military Analysis, a Dubai-based think tank. “Most people know it just isn’t true.”
The Shia-dominated pro-democracy movement, which had congregated at the now-demolished Pearl roundabout, has attempted to reduce sectarianism. One of the political leaders arrested after last week’s crackdown, Ebrahim Sharif of the secular, leftist Waad party, is Sunni and arguably the most moderate among the opposition.
Nonetheless, Bahrain, where a minority Sunni leadership dominates a majority Shia population, has become a sectarian battleground. Bahraini state-controlled broadcasters and newspapers have fanned the flames of religious differences, while Shia leaders in Iran, Iraq and Lebanon have weighed in on the kingdom’s opposition clampdown. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2011)