Sunday, Mar 06, 2011
Gulf News
Order from Hamad follows call for national dialogue after protests
Manama: Bahrains interior minister said that King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa has ordered the hiring of 20,000 Bahrainis by the ministry.
Shaikh Rashid Bin Abdullah Al Khalifa told the editors-in-chief of the local dailies that the order stressed the urgency of implementing the employment.
Warning of the consequences of the sectarian tension currently gripping the country, the minister stressed the need to highlight the higher interests of Bahrain.
The decision to offer 20,000 new jobs to Bahrainis comes as a call launched two weeks ago for national dialogue bringing together all factions and parties of Bahrain is gaining more local and international support.
It also comes amid confirmation that the US administration has expressed its full support to the Bahraini rulers while encouraging the opposition to work from within the system in a clear indication that it would not apply the same strategy as with Egypt.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Americans, fearful that the fall of Bahrains government would cost the US a critical ally and potentially move the country toward Irans orbit, have asked protesters to negotiate with the ruling family, which is promising major changes.
Different situation
The daily said that Secretary of Defence Robert Gates and his team were quick to point out that Bahrain represented a very different situation from Egypts.
The country is the headquarters of the US Navys Fifth Fleet. Some at the Pentagon feared that Shiite-led Iran might try to hijack the protest movement in Bahrain and back installation of an anti-American government, the daily said.
Last week, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Tehran of seeking to destabilise regimes in Egypt as well as the Gulf. We know that they are reaching out to the opposition in Bahrain, Clinton said.
We know that the Iranians are very much involved in the opposition movements in Yemen.
However, on Thursday, Irans Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani warned the US not to interfere in its domestic matters and disturb the situation.
Mansour Al Jamri, editor-in-chief of Al Wasat daily, and Muneera Fakhro, one of the best-known leaders of Waad, the largest liberal society, told their audience at the Pearl Roundabout, that they should take up the offer to engage in a meaningful and genuinely open dialogue to help achieve their demands.
New protest
Yesterday, thousands of protesters formed a huge human chain around Manama as their campaign against the government entered third week. No police were in sight as men and women held hands to encircle Manama.
By Habib Toumi, Bureau Chief
Gulf News 2011. All rights reserved.
