Writing in the Crossroads Arabia bog, John Burgess discusses the Saudi military intervention in Bahrain and concludes:
Once again, the Middle East demonstrates its problem with missed opportunities. Had Bahrain not treated its majority Shi’ite population less well than its Sunni minority...
Blog archive: Bahrain
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16th March 2011
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8th March 2011Amid all the political turmoil in Bahrain, there hasn't been much coverage of a court case last week in which 49 men were given jail sentences ranging from one to six months, in connection with a gay party. About 200 people were initially arrested "due to immoral activities" on...
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21st September 2010In the continuing crackdown in Bahrain, Ayatollah Hussein al-Najati – a prominent Shia religious figure – has been stripped of his citizenship. The passports of his wife and three children have also been revoked. Najati is the local representative of the Iraqi grand ayatollah, Ali al-Sistani...
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8th September 2010The Gulf Cooperation Council – of which Bahrain is a member – has called on Britain to expel two Bahraini Shia opposition figures. The pair – Hassan Mushaima of the Haq movement and Saeed al-Shehabi of the Bahrain Freedom Islamic Movement – are among 23 activists who were...
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7th September 2010Tension in Bahrain ahead of the elections scheduled for next month. Twenty-three people, reportedly Shia activists, have been accusedof "forming an illegal organisation" aiming to "overthrow the government and dissolve the constitution", inciting people to "overthrow and change the...
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27th May 2010Khadija Ahmed, a 32-year-old mother who owns what is thought to be Bahrain's first sex shop (discreetly known as "Khadija Fashion House"), was up in court on Monday, accused of insulting a customs officer during a dispute over the types of items she is allowed to import. The case was...
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21st May 2010Bahrain has "temporarily frozen" the activities of al-Jazeera television inside the country for "breaching professional media norms and flouting the laws regulating the press and publishing". The ban came to light on Tuesday when a team from al-Jazeera were prevented from...
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9th May 2010Bahrain's unelected upper house of parliament has blocked a move by the lower house (elected and Islamist-dominated) to impose a total ban on the public sale and consumption of alcohol. With backing from Bahrain's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Shura Council last week ...
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8th August 2009At long last, the system of employers’ sponsorship for foreign workers – a major cause of exploitation in the Arab Gulf states – seems to be coming to an end. Sponsorship, in effect, ties foreign workers (and their continued residence in the country) to a single employer, often with dire...
