Bahrain’s king sacked his interior minister on Friday after police attacked a demonstration to protest the U.S.-led forces in Shi’ite Muslim holy cities in Iraq, official media reported.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa replaced Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al-Khalifa with another member of the royal family, Rashed bin Abdullah bin Ahmad al-Khalifa, the official news agency said.
“We share the anger of our people over the oppression and aggression taking place in Palestine and in the holy shrines (in Iraq). People had a right to peaceful protests. We are investigating,” the agency quoted the king as saying.
Police clashed with thousands of angry demonstrators in the capital Manama on Friday. More than 20 people were hurt, including Javad Firouz, a Shi’ite opposition activist and member of Manama city council.
full story via Reuters Alertnet
THIS is unbelievable! Staggering and if this does not prove once and for all that now officials are held responsible for their actions, at the highest levels, then nothing will change people’s minds.
The Minister of the Interior is traditionally one of the most feared and loathed figures in Bahrain. By firing him, the King is sending a crystal-clear signal that the reforms will not be derailed by anyone.
A proud day for Bahrain. A proud day for freedoms of speech.
Comments
Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Mahmood.
I will take your word for it that this is progress, because you know the lay of the land. Could it not be just to get control of the protests? Just asking. Could you explain in more detail why you think as you do about these developments?
A break from tradition
For you to understand the ramifications of this act, you have to understand that all ruling families in the Gulf are tribal, and the basic “rule” of the tribe is loyalty at all costs. The King firing a member of his own family, and one who has held the post for some 30 years at that and this senior is a huge break from tradition.
The King being a King of course has ultimate authority. He is the head of the tribe whom all must obey. No questions asked. But still, going as far as firing a very senior member of the tribe takes an awful lot of courage.
Skeptics might interject here and point out a couple of things:
1. Shaikh Mohammed has been ill for some time, he’s (I think) about 74 years old and has been outside of the country undergoing medical treatment for a while. His position has been delegated to Shaikh Ali, the prime minister’s son and the current Minister of Transport. Shaikh Mohammed to all intents and purposes was on the way out.
2. Rumours are rife that there will soon be a major cabinet reshuffle and Shaikh Mohammed was high on the list of those to be replaced.
Therefore people will say and have said already that this “move” on the King’s part lacks sincerity. That he’s done this just to save face and defuse the situation on the street.
The above notwithstanding, the decree to remove such a minister from position is a major change in attitude that to me signals several things:
1. The removal of the Minister of the Interior has actually removed TWO ministers, not just one: Shaikh Mohammed AND Shaikh Ali from that position. Both are hated by the community and both are left with huge loss of face.
2. This acts sends a sure signal that the King will not take any more bullshit from the “old guard” who are intent on derailing his initiatives of reform. He has continuously said in various interviews he has given that he wholeheartedly supports freedoms of expression in all of its forms, unless it impinges on national security, or is malicious.
When the riot police attacked the demonstrators almost immediately after he held constructive talks with 9 political societies promising them that there is no turning back from reform, this event must have looked like a slap in his face by the old guard. A direct challenge to his authority, hence he responded in a surprisingly candid and straight-forward way without any politico-speak. Which part of “you’re fired” does this old guard not understand?
3. He also has sided completely and unequivocally with the message and spirit of the demonstration: against the atrocities committed by the Israelis against the Palestinians and (more importantly as far as the demo was concerned) against the American insurrection (under any pretense) into the Shia holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.
The moral of the King’s actions are manifold, probably the most important of which are (1) he does have control of the day-to-day operations of the country, (2) he can act quickly to diffuse situations, (3) he is patient, time is on his side, and (4) he’s a strategic thinker who recognises that he has an uphill struggle to bring the populace into his reforms fold and will not let the “old guard” interfere with progress and the reforms he pioneers.
Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Although I do not “…share the anger of our people over the oppression and aggression taking place in Palestine and in the holy shrines (in Iraq),” I must say that the King’s actions are right on the nail for reforms. Liberty, encompassing the great freedoms of speech, religion, the press, petition of the government, etc, can be very inconvenient. We revere Thomas Jefferson, but his own history with the early American media is mixed at best, and his election campaigns make anything we have gone thru in recent time look like a cake walk. I hope the King and your fellow Bahrainis continue to embrace this movement toward greater liberties. It is a happy event for all of us.
Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
WOW.Seriously.
Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Thanks Mahmood. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts in such detail so I can understand better. It makes more sense now as well as some of your other comments about reforms and not rocking the boat. Guess it is a delicate balancing act with everything going on in the region.
Really do enjoy reading your articles. Makes me think. Are you not afraid for yourself and your family if petition signing gets people arrested?
Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Juan Cole, the history professor has a few things to say about the ramifications of the demonstrations all around the Shia communities in the world and is worth a read:
Shiite Demonstrations in Bahrain
Re: Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
What exactly are you going on about? Of course we know what’s happening in Iraq. It’s only about 400 miles to the north and has a huge impact on the whole region, so rest assured that a lot of Gulf people are watching events unfold.
As to your assertion that weapons have been holed up in mosques, yes we know about that too and oppose it..
But please, to keep things tidy, try commenting on a relevant thread in the future.
Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Well, surprise suprise the King has appointed Shaikh Mohammed as deputy head of the ruling family council. I wouldnt worry too much about Sh. Ali either, he will be recompensed in some other way also. I wouldnt rely to much on the Old Guard New Guard stuff, the King is out to protect his tribe as much as he can, yet has to publicly save his face also. Its like the father who tries to cover up the misdemeanors of his teenage daughter.
Despite the fact that merit has no role to play in Ministerial appointments and since the Interior Ministry is one of the most sensitive of Ministries, it is inconceavable for anyone outside the ‘tribe’ to be appointed.
The first thing i’d advise this new minister to do, is to take his troops (or alshaghb in arabic) on an introductory training course on common courtesy, basic arabic, and patience. Since these mercenaries barely understand the language of the land and how to police us. I got lost once and I tried asking them for directions as I saw them on patrol in the area. Boy, I couldnt communicate with them in neither english or arabic and ended up even more lost.
Salman bin Sagar Alkhalifa in his column (one of the tribe) in alwasat newspaper also on this note, advised the new Minister in considering the Bahrainisation of the security forces since the majority are non-Bahrainisation, and who better to serve Bahrain then Bahrainis themselves.
I would also advise him to get an expert in to brief them on modern crowd control techniques, since obviously the Ministry hasnt updated its Handbooks compiled by Ian Henderson in the 60s and widely used in the 90s. Using rubber bullets and tear cans to disperse a peaceful legal demonstration is stupid and uncalled for. One explanation is that the Interior Ministry seems to have ordered excess amounts of rubber bullets and tear gas canisters in the nineties, and burgeoning supplies of these need to be put into use. So this riot was the perfect opportunity to rundown stockpiles. This may seem like a ludicrous explanation, but there are photographs of the cannisters with an expiry date in 1994!!!
Noting that last year a young man called Mohammed Juma was killed due to a rubber bullet fired into his head from close range. Of course that case was resolved by a measly payout of 50,000BD but no specific person was investigated.
It has been a tumultous few years, and the last few months ever more so. The constitutional conference, the petition, the political detainess and now this demonstration clearly highlights the instability in the country at the moment, and also demonstrates the governments forceful old tactics coming to play.
[img]http://members.lycos.co.uk/vbahrain/maseeeeera/Picture%20057.jpg[/img]
[img]http://www.jeddawi.com/s/abuwalamalkiya/maseerah9.JPG[/img]
Re: Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Cynical as ever.
No one is disputing your points, certainly not me:
1. The Ministry of the Interior is a very important ministry, and is one of those that we call “siyadiya” loosely translated to “tribal, requires loyalty to the monarch” – and it’s joined by others like the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defence. I’m sure that at least the MoJ can be taken out of that in order for it to be viewed as impartial. At the moment, I have no problem for any of these ministries resided upon by the ruling family. Time will tell if they ever become “common” ministries and yes before you have a go at me, eventually I believe that all ministries must be manned by responsible and qualified ministers, ie, a ministerial position must be occupied by those with merit.
2. Yes, the King is protecting his tribe. Why not? I personally think by his astuteness he has given his tribe another 200 years in power by changing the rule’s strategy to what we have now. That of course has heaped benefits on the whole of the country as well. Is this the optimum we can expect for Bahrain? No of course not, but the alternative is chaos and instability and it’s not time for that. I support the constitutional monarchy’s model. Sure it’s not perfect, but it will take generations of peaceful work to get “them” to see “our” way of thinking and we’ll reach a median.
3. The appointment of Shaikh Mohammed as the vice-president of the Royal Court is STILL a slap on his face. It still constitutes a huge loss of face for him. But I agree, this new position he’s occupying is just a face-saving gesture. In time he’ll resign or be sidelined. Remember he wasn’t “forcedâ€? to resign, he was fired and this is the very first time (I think) that such a thing has happened in Bahrain (or the Gulf, not sure) so this action did calm the street down and it was the proper thing to do. Now the King should over-see the investigation which should be public, transparent and the twit that gave the order to fire should be held accountable in at least being fired without privileges.
4. Bahrainisation of the police and defence forces is an absolute MUST. ALL the mercenaries (Yemenis, Jordanians, Syrians, Balush, Indians, Pakistanis, Sudanese, English or whatever other nationality who have been brought in) should be thanked for their services to the country, compensated and put on a flight back home. This of course will immediately solve the majority of unemployment problems.
5. ALL public security and defence personnel MUST undergo retraining on the purview of their jobs and how to deal with the public in all occasions. Stressing the fact that they are public servants rather than masters. They must submit to retraining in human rights and that training must be refreshed at least once a year and these personnel must pass a written and aural test by one of the human rights organisation after that training to keep their jobs.
6. The judicial system MUST ensure that on the apprehension of any citizen or visitor to the island that they MUST be read their rights and they must be informed of the charges against them within 24 hours, and their trial if it gets to that must be done in a timely fashion, else charges must be dropped and the person let go without any further harassment.
7. Every person hurt in the scuffle in this demonstration must be compensated. The compensation could be monetary or at least morally. The person who authorised the use of force must face all affected people and publicly apologise for his actions.
We’re getting there… slowly but surely. This is a fact of life that no one can stop.
Re(1): Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Yep totally agree, thanks for the clarification.
One good thing about the demonstartion is that it has united the opposition again and has served to strengthen the spirit of the people as they see the King acknoweledging his mistakes and taking true measures based on the will of the people.
My prediction for the next episode is the closure of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights. If the pattern of recent events continuous then confrontation will occur here between the Centre and the Minister of Labour who has released several strongly worded statements for its closure.
Threatened closure of the Bahrain Human Rights Centre
On page 5 of today’s Al-Wasat newspaper the minister reiterates his Ministry’s intention to follow on from the two warnings they sent to the BHRC that should they not stop their political activities, it will be closed.
He went on to state that the BHRC is completely biased, and as there is a Bahrain Human Rights Society, he implied that there is not need for the Centre. Going on to say that even the Centre’s founder Hassan Mousa resigned and so did Abdulaziz Abul because of the direction the centre has taken and they were opposed to that direction.
The Centre, he claims, was started as a “training institution” only.
I don’t know much about the Centre or its activities, I just know that they are very active and they are involved in a lot of things as they continuously appear in the papers and various seminars with the vice-president of the centre seamingly the mover and shaker there (Abdulaziz?) Al-Khawajah.
I’ll hold my judgement on the centre until I know a little bit more about its activities and purpose though.
Having said that, I think that they have a right to defend human rights just as much as the Bahrain Human Rights Society has, so I don’t understand fully why the government is feeling threatended by their existance.
Re: Threatened closure of the Bahrain Human Rights Centre
To the Centre’s credit they have raised and campaigned for several crucial human rights issues:
-Sectarian discrimination in authority
-Political naturalisation
-prisoners of conscience
-the repeal of law 56 which gives immunity to torturers such as Adel Flaifil
The few comprehensive studies were well-researched and presented with statistical figures and they are the main body in touch with international human rights organisation. I guess this is what is pissing off the government and claiming they are politically oriented. What I dont understand is what the role of the Society is since Ive barely heard about any of its activities.
Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Myself, I just emailed Pres. Bush from my home in California, telling him that I am sick and tired of our support for the criminal rulers in Israel, I also told him that those bastards in Israel won’t be happy until they have stolen every square inch of what little land the Palestinians have. On another topic, were these demonstrators totally in agreement with the Iraqi insurgents turning mosques into arms dumps? Is that okay with them? And while they’re busy demonstrating against what, democracy breaking out, did they think of protesting the 200,000 Palestinians killed in Jordan? Where the hell were they when that broke out? Are they going to protest the Kurds and Iranians being attacked by Saddam with hideous nerve agents? Are they going to protest the brutal dictatorships in Egypt and Syria? They have the gall to call themselves ‘President’. ‘President or Else
Re: Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Logic, passion and patriotism are dangerous weapons!
No, I’m not afraid of being arrested as I have taken pains not to lible anyone. What I have written about here are personal thoughts and analysis which I believe in, and my goal is to broaden horizons and ask questions. I think the authorities here do understand that and the King has publicly said on countless occasions that constructive criticism is welcome.
Would I have been able to do the same in any other country in the Gulf (or the Middle East for that matter?) I really doubt it.
So no, there is no danger to myself for writing my thoughts.
The irony is that I do receive threats to my life via email from wahabi jerks ironically residing in the UK, Pakistan, and recently Malaysia! Go figure!! But I don’t give them the time of day, their emails have been marked as junk and I don’t bother reading them any more!
Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
I forgot to ask, are you in Bahrain even aware that the ‘insurgents’ in Iraq’s holy cities have been using mosques as platforms for armed attacks? Have you heard that they have been storing guns and ammunition in these same holy shrines that you claim to hold in such high regard? Have you? If so, why don’t you say something about that? Say something, any goddamn thing, just acknowledge that before you go off on your bullshit rants .
Re(1): Threatened closure of the Bahrain Human Rights Centre
Closing down the BHRC is the wrong way to go, but I’d certainly say the organisation needs to be a bit more consistent. Why does it remain resolutely silent over Islamist violence? Islamists go on the rampage over Big Brother, Nancy Ajram, Le Terrece etc, but the BHRC says nothing.
Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Isn’t it sacrilgious to kill someone in Church? There is even a word for it, I think .. I just cant remember what it is.
But – if I were an Iraqi Shia watching this from the sidelines – I would probably keep my head down and wait until the Sadr – Sistani battle played out for leadership – and thus wouldnt really get involed in who is hiding the guns where. But – I would get involved if the holy cities were attacked. Which is what our friend Sadr was banking on methinks. How to drag in the silent Shia majority into taking sides.
I am hoping agasint hope that the silent majority sit this one out. Sadr aint no good for anyone. And no -one, and I mean no -one, can afford a civil war in Iraq. Which is why you dont hear much about why they are using the holy cities.
Also, in Bahrain they were carrying pictures of Sistani, not Sadr, which is an endoresement of Sistani’s position of having both sides disarm and stop the war in the Holy Cities. Which is an implicit admonishment of Sadr.
I still maintain that the future of Iraq lies in the direction that the Shia in Iraq forge for themselves ..
Re: Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
By the way .. since it became acceptable and legal for peaceful demonstrations to be held in Bahrain .. people have been demonstrating about everything. From legitimate issues like the legimitacy of our consitution to stupid a** issues like Big Brother. Other topics include, but are not limited to, Unemployment, US foriegn policy and Nancy Ajram. And not necessarily in that order.
The point being, people demonstrate because they can. And there is a cat and mouse game being played by the demonstrators and the authorities. Both using the demonstrations for their own political agenda.
As a Bahraini, I hope that Ali Salman and co excerise a little more wisdom in implicitly inciting trouble for the purpose of flexing muscle. And I am a little heartened by the recent firing of the fomer Minister of Interior.
So, to the guy in Calfornia – dont read more into these riots than what is necesssary. And just pray that our blessed government realizes that it needs to create jobs in the economy to keep people of the streets …
Media coverage
Mahmood, did you read this article in today Alwasat:
[url]http://www.alwasatnews.com/t41.asp[/url]
Its absolutely hilarious, one of the best i’ve read in a long time. He talks about how five journalists in some of the newspapers had to suddenly change the editorial line once they heard that the King had sacked the Minister, and since this was announced quite late at night, there was chaos as each journalist scrambled back to the office and the editors called them in to completely reverse the message of their article in line with the King…
One example the author talks about one journalist who simply told the editor use the antonym of all that he had written!!
“We call for the closure of these political societes and we condone the wise actions of the security forces who were patient towards the provocations of the demonstraters who were then forced to use tear gas…”
“We DO NOT call for the closure of these political societes and we DO NOT condone the wise actions of the security forces who were IMpatient towards the provocations of the demonstraters and who were NOT forced to use tear gas…”
Definitely worth the read…but it is in arabic..
Insurgent
Re: Media coverage
I did this morning and couldn’t stop chuckling all day! How very true though, when the official line changed, the astute journalist told his editor to just put a negative in front of every phrase and that would “fix” the article! It got so bad that they ultimately decided to put a picture of Nicole Kidman instead of the article itself..
how very inconvenient for them, the King should only enact laws in business hours, that way these so call journalists can cook up something before they get drunk at night!
Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
I’m afraid that you are being reactionary in your response, particualrly the call for the dismissal of those who called for the firing of tear gas and rubber bullets. Surely we should wait for a proper, objective investiagtion of what happened before heads are bayed for? Too late for Shaikh Mohammed who is NOT hated by all in Bahrain. The change in regime policy came very fast and it was tantamount to taking a lid off a boiling pot. The Interior were then left in a kind of no mans land with regular and sometimes inflammatory protests to deal with and a very (deliberately?) ambiguous direction to ‘sort them out without upsetting anyone’. Mission impossible? Many of the Bahraini (born and bred) senior interior officers have long been head in hands at the seeming impossibility of following the party line and keeping order. There are instances of extreme provocation that saw frontline officers abandoned by those a little further up the ladder becasue they were sure that some force was required to reclaim order but were also sure that they would not be backed up by the great and the good at the top of the tribal tree. No win situation? Bfeore we all suddenly becaome security experts in the wake of Mohammed’s departre, lets take a long hard look at the challenges faced by a complete reversal (on paper at least) of regime policy coupled with a determined opposition with a long-term plan, in which unity features only under a new (their) Bahrain brand.
Re: Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Fair enough. The king ordered an investigation of this incident, let’s see who heads that body and what the outcome of that investigation is. For it to have popular support, the investigation must be presided upon by a person who is unbiased and respected in the community and above all the investigation should be transparent.
This demand is not haphazard, nor is it unreasonable. The basic premise behind this demand for an investigation is for these types of incidents never to recurr again and that ALL parties involved should LEARN from the lessons, rather than continue to fall in the same pitfalls time and again.
Of course it is Mission Impossible! Because it appears that all incidents of this sort are dealt with on a whim, rather than by studied, calm and fair response.
Look, I am against public demonstrations which have no goal. I am against any act which undermines the development in the country culturally and economically, but you have to admit that the police response has been harsh over their history of the last 30 years or so. The demand now is to change that perception, and you cannot change that perception if the same people who were in charge of the Ministry of Interior are STILL in a position of power. They are jaded. They are set in their ways.
To solve this new unbiased and open-minded blood MUST be drafted into the most feared and hated of ministries.
The kind did the right thing in replacing the old minister. I disagree with your analysis that this act “was tantamount to taking a lid off a boiling pot” completely. To me this action taken by the king was very courageous, very strategic and very understanding of the “street”. Rather than taking the lid off a boiling pot, he actually turned the fire off, so he went to the very cause of the boiling pot, rather than treat its result.
and who’s to blame there? They say a company fails because of three main principals: management, management and managmeent! Then comes all the other ancilliary things like cash flows and sales etc. Shaikh Mohammed, with all due respect, was the head of that organisation and he has failed in (1) maintaining the peace, and (2) having clear strategy for dealing with disturbances, and most importantly (3) complete disregard, or worse complete misunderstanding of what democracy, human rights and personal freedoms are.
The buck stopped with him I’m afraid.
And don’t blame the opposition for this particular episode. They had nothing to do with it as far as I can see and deduce. The cancer is in the public security.
And please remember, I personally oppose the opposition you’re talking about! But I’m not blind so I wouldn’t recognise what is right and proper.
I wish the new minister all the luck in turning this ministry from an ogre which is feared and loathed by 99.99% of the Bahraini people to something which is helpful and could keep the peace.
I join the king in bidding farewell and fair wind to the previous Minister of the Interior and wish him good health and recovery.
Re: Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
very interesting analysis. i quite enjoyed reading this. thanks!
Re: Cant teach an old dog new tricks
Who said tear gas was used. If so, why not reported in the GDB along with the disturbance. Stop bloody cowering behind the ‘big bad policeman’ cry and start bloody behaving at SPORTING events – start by looking up the defination in the dictionary ciao
Cant teach an old dog new tricks
It hasnt even been one week yet and already the security forces are back to it’s old ways. Following a controversial decision by the referee at an indoor volleyball match between AlNasr and Alnajma, and amidst angry fans who protested at the decision, security forces attacked the hall with tear gas forcing everyone to evacuate -much to the shock and disarray of young children and women that were there. Whose orders are these security forces following???
Re(1): Bahrain minister sacked after clash with protesters
Might I just ask for some clarification on the minister’s reshuffle? Has sheikh Mohammad been appointed to the head of the family council as or as vice-president of the Royal Court? And then, he is not the sheikh Mohammad who is said to have been lying in coma for some years or is he????
What about sheikh Rashid? Has he been known in the past?