December 21, 2006
Abdul-Amir al-Jamri, 67, Bahrain Shiite Cleric, Dies
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 20 — Sheik Abdul-Amir al-Jamri, Bahrain’s most prominent Shiite Muslim cleric and an opposition leader during civil unrest in the 1990s, died Monday at his home in Manama, his son Mansour al-Jamri said. He was 67.
The cause was multiple organ failures and a heart attack, Mr. Jamri said.
Sheik Jamri served as a member of Bahrain’s first Parliament, until it was dissolved by the emir, Sheik Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, in 1975. But Sheik Jamri rose to prominence in the 1990s, when he led opposition protests demanding the restoration of the legislature, which had included Shiite representation. That battle was part of a larger struggle between the country’s majority Shiites and its Sunnis, who have long dominated the government and are allied with the ruling family.
December 21, 2006
Abdul-Amir al-Jamri, 67, Bahrain Shiite Cleric, Dies
By HASSAN M. FATTAH
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 20 — Sheik Abdul-Amir al-Jamri, Bahrain’s most prominent Shiite Muslim cleric and an opposition leader during civil unrest in the 1990s, died Monday at his home in Manama, his son Mansour al-Jamri said. He was 67.
The cause was multiple organ failures and a heart attack, Mr. Jamri said.
Sheik Jamri served as a member of Bahrain’s first Parliament, until it was dissolved by the emir, Sheik Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, in 1975. But Sheik Jamri rose to prominence in the 1990s, when he led opposition protests demanding the restoration of the legislature, which had included Shiite representation. That battle was part of a larger struggle between the country’s majority Shiites and its Sunnis, who have long dominated the government and are allied with the ruling family.
Mr. Jamri said his father would be best remembered for his ability to organize Bahrain’s Shiite population, together with secular groups of moderates and leftists, into an effective opposition movement.
Sheik Jamri was jailed twice for his political organizing, first in 1996, when he was sentenced to three years in prison, then in July 1999, when he was convicted and sentenced to 10 years. He never served that second term, however, because he was pardoned the next day by King Hamad al-Khalifa, the emir’s successor, as part of a reconciliation effort that promised sweeping reforms, including the election of a new Parliament.
Optimism over the initiative soon wore off, when the king imposed a Constitution establishing a second, appointed legislative house, which significantly curtailed the power of the elected one. Gerrymandering ensured a Sunni advantage in the elected house as well.
Sheik Jamri dropped out of public life in 2002, when he suffered the first of many strokes, his son said.
He died shortly after a Shiite-dominated parliamentary bloc won a majority of the seats in Bahrain’s Parliament last month, promising to change Bahrain’s politics.
Thousands of Bahrainis poured into the streets of Manama on Monday in a procession to the cemetery where the sheik was buried, in a Shiite village on the outskirts of town, Mr. Jamri said.
In addition to Mr. Jamri, the editor of the Bahraini daily Al Wasat, Sheik Jamri is survived by six other sons and three daughters.
