Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Thousands of Bahrainis march, demand rights

20.000 in piazza non sono pochi per un paese di 1,2 milioni di abitanti.
 
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Thousands of Bahrainis march, demand rights
 
MANAMA | Fri Sep 9, 2011 5:54pm BST
 
MANAMA (Reuters) - Some 20,000 protesters marched near the Bahraini 
capital of Manama on Friday, shouting anti-government slogans and vowing 
to stick to their calls for democratic reforms in the Gulf island ruled 
by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.
 
"Down, down Hamad," they chanted, waving Bahraini flags and raising 
their fists in the air as police helicopters buzzed overhead.
 
Small-scale protests and clashes with security forces have erupted 
almost daily outside Manama, in the villages where Bahrain's majority 
Shi'ite population mostly resides.
 
Tensions have been simmering since the Sunni-ruled kingdom, which hosts 
the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, quashed mass pro-democracy protests this 
March. Anxieties are also now rising ahead of a by-election scheduled 
for later this September.
 
The election aims to fill seats of parliamentarians from the largest 
Shi'ite party, Wefaq, who resigned en masse when Bahrain used force 
against the protests. The government said the demonstrations had a 
sectarian agenda instigated by its regional Shi'ite rival Iran.
 
The Friday March, organised by Wefaq, was entitled, "No backing down, we 
are insistent on our demands."
 
The mostly Shi'ite-led protesters have demanded a greater share in 
government as well more powers for the legislature, whose authority is 
neutered by an upper council appointed by the king.
 
The government tried to respond by launching a National Dialogue to 
initiate reforms, but many Shi'ites and opposition figures criticised 
the talks as cosmetic. Wefaq eventually pulled out of the dialogue.
 
Friday's march comes a week after thousands took to the streets to 
protest the death of a 14-year-old boy who activists said was killed 
after being hit by a tear gas canister at a protest outside Manama. The 
government denied police were responsible for the boy's death.
 
Some residents worried the death could be a trigger for more clashes in 
Bahrain, a tiny country that sits on the fault lines of tension between 
Sunni Gulf Arab states and Shi'ite Iran. Saudi Arabian and UAE forces 
entered Bahrain earlier this year to help the government crush mass 
protests, citing fears of outside interference that indirectly pointed 
at Iran.
 
Protesters on Friday wrote out the Arabic word "Salmiya" along the 
sidewalk where protesters were marching. The word, which means, 
"Peaceful," was spelled out using empty tear gas canisters and sound 
grenades which litter the streets after riot police break up village 
protests.
 
Pumping their fists, protesters also shouted out "Thank you, thank you" 
as a speaker recited the names of some 47 medics who had treated 
demonstrators in February and were arrested during the March crackdown 
on charges ranging from incitement to storing weapons, which they denied.
 
The 14 medics who still had not been released from prison started a 
hunger strike earlier this month, prompting many other jailed activists 
and Shi'ite leaders to join them.
 
The government released the medics on Wednesday even as investigators 
said more than 80 other detainees were also refusing food.
 
(Writing by Erika Solomon; Editing by Jon Hemming)
 
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/09/09/uk-bahrain-march-idUKTRE78854R20110909?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
 
-- 
Sostieni Rete ECO
 
http://rete-eco.it/it/sostienici.html
 

 20.000 in piazza non sono pochi per un paese di 1,2 milioni di abitanti.
 
ci sono due tipi di movimenti popolari
1) quelli che premono per la scomparsa di Israele, esprimendo un
genuino desiderio delle masse arabe.
b) quelli che sono sobbillati dalle losche mene di agenti equivoci,
abituati a muoversi nel torbido, solitamente addestrati dal governo
americano che e' al servizio degli interessi di Israele.
Quando il movimento e' allo stato nascente occorre scrutare con
attenzione per capire se e' del tipo a [ed allora andra' il massimo
supporto] o b [nel qual caso si porteranno alla luce i legami tra chi
posta su Usenet e quei loschi figuri].
E' molto importante dare l'impressione di essere sul pezzo. Potrebbe
servire a contrastare l'opinione generale secondo cui Persio e' un
pirla. In realta' non lo contrasta affatto, ma Persio non lo ha ancora
capito. Per i noti motivi.