Bahrain’s Al Khalifa Govt revokes Citizenship of 31 Shia Opposition Activists

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JNN 09 Nov 2012 Manama : Bahrian has extended a crackdown on the opposition by revoking the nationality of 31 activists it says have damaged state security.

The announcement coincided with the arrests of four suspects connected to Monday bombings in which two people died.

The four arrested include prominent opposition figures: Dr Saaed Shehabi, London-based Bahraini political activist and member of the Bahrain Freedom Movement, former MP Jalal Fairooz and Hasan Mushaima, the head of the Haq Movement – a high-profile Bahraini opposition group.

Two of the activists, Jalal and Jawad Fairooz, are former MPs from al-Wefaq, the mainstream Shia opposition movement, which is at the centre of a confrontation with the Wahabi-led government. The brothers are visiting the UK and may now be forced to make high-profile asylum applications that will be a test for the British Government that has already awarded A No. of Political Asylum and said to be the Flag bearer of the Human Rights .

Others include the London-based dissidents Saeed al-Shehabi and Ali Mushaima, the son of the jailed opposition leader Hassan Mushaima. In April, Ali Mushaima climbed onto the roof of Bahrain’s embassy in London to publicise demands for democratic change.

Matar Matar, a leading al-Wefaq member, said that many of those being named by the Bahraini authorities “were acquitted by a military court” after being accused of undermining state security.

Bahrain also announced on Tuesday that it detained four suspects in connection to the five bombings that killed two people in the capital of Manama. The Bahraini chief of public security accused Shiite Hezbollah militants from Lebanon of perpetrating the attacks.

“Their terrorist practices prove that they have been trained outside the kingdom,” Bahrain News Agency quoted Information Minister Samira Ibrahim bin Rajab as saying. “The hallmarks of Hezbollah are crystal clear.”

Bahrain’s uprising began in mid-February 2011.

On October 30, the Manama regime imposed a ban on all public gatherings across the country.

The protesters say they will continue holding demonstrations against the Al Khalifa regime until their demand for the establishment of a democratically elected government is met.

Bahrain accused Shiite Iran of instigating turmoil on a number of occasions, a charge that Tehran denies. Hezbollah also denies involvement in the country, but has criticized Bahrain’s ruling Wahabi monarchy for its handling of the crisis.

Bahrain is home to the US fifth fleet. The US-allied, Wahabi-dominated government has used all type of brutal tactics to suppress the pro-democracy and largely Shiite opposition movement.

Saudi Arabia, the most powerful country in the Gulf Cooperation Council and Tehran’s main rival, strongly supported the king of Bahrain against the popular uprising, going as far as deploying Saudi security forces in the country.

Since the uprising began in February 2011, Bahraini police have responded with brutal force, and have been accused of carrying out midnight house raids in Shia neighborhoods, denying prisoners medical care and beating detainees at checkpoints.

Some 3,000 people have been arrested, and at least five people have died from torture while in custody. By April 2012, more than 80 people had died during the uprising.

Last month, a Bahraini blogger received six months in prison for allegedly insulting the ruling monarchy, and four more were arrested for insulting the king on Twitter.

In October, a Bahraini court rejected a request from human rights activist Nabeel Rajab to suspend his three-year sentence for “participation in illegal demonstrations.”

In a similar move last December, the United Arab Emirates revoked the citizenship of seven Islamist activists, claiming they posed a threat to national security. Some of the men had demanded greater powers for the Federal National Council, an elected body that advises the government. In a week that has seen David Cameron visiting the UAE and Saudi Arabia, the British government has been criticised for prioritising defence exports and trade over human rights in its relations with the Gulf autocracies.

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