Sporadic protests continue to break out in Shia neighborhoods in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, as more developed neighborhoods are claiming security has been restored. Sheikh Abdul-Aziz of Bahrain’s Information Affairs said the protesters are not representative of the Shi’a majority. Prominent Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab said, “I think we’ll remain in this unstable situation until there is some kind of political solution. It’s not going back to normal.”
Sporadic protests continue to break out in Shia neighborhoods in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, as more developed neighborhoods are claiming security has been restored. Sheikh Abdul-Aziz of Bahrain’s Information Affairs said the protesters are not representative of the Shi’a majority. Prominent Bahraini activist Nabeel Rajab said, “I think we’ll remain in this unstable situation until there is some kind of political solution. It’s not going back to normal.” Bahraini clerics are condemning police crackdowns on the Shi’a festival of Azza, which authorities say have been characterized by calls for regime change. Al Wefaq, the leading opposition party, was prevented from holding a presentation detailing abuses by the regime, officially due to lack of a permit. Former al Wefaq MP Hadi al-Moussawi said that permits were never required in the past.
Roy Gutman argues that the lifting of the emergency law on June 1st was meant simply to reassure Formula One race organizers and led to little change on the ground. He adds that the king’s call for dialogue without conditions is undermined by the continued detention of opposition leaders, including former MPs Jalal Fairooz and Mattar Mattar. In the New York Times, Nicholas Kristof pleaded for the release of his friend, Bahraini professor Hassan al-Sahaf, in an open letter to Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Issa Al Khalifa.