Monday, Mar 28, 2011
(From THE WALL STREET JOURNAL)
By Joe Parkinson
MANAMA -- Bahrain's Shiite-led opposition movement, which at one stage had a chance to topple the ruling al-Khalifa family, faces a struggle to regain momentum following a violent government crackdown and the arrest of key leaders and activists.
In a sign of the movement's weakened position, Al Wefaq -- the largest opposition bloc and only antigovernment group whose leadership wasn't subject to arrest -- said it dropped some key preconditions for dialogue with the government.
The moderate party, which had demanded the creation of a constitutional monarchy and the resignation of the cabinet, said it is now prepared to engage in direct talks if the military is withdrawn from the streets and "key" political prisoners are released.
Senior Al Wefaq members also said they will accept Kuwait as a mediator with Bahrain's ruling family to discuss political changes.
The party set no preconditions for Kuwaiti involvement, underscoring the way the group's negotiating position has deteriorated.
"We know it is very hard to deal with this crisis and we're in a situation where it's not so easy to be positive," said Jawad Fairooz, senior lawmaker with Al Wefaq.
"We are backing dialogue mediated by the Kuwaitis without any conditions and our conditions for dialogue with the government have changed to reflect the situation," he added.
It isn't clear how the government will respond to Al Wefaq's concessions or to the Kuwaiti offer of mediation. Government officials had no comment on the situation.
The weakened state of Bahrain's opposition movement stands in contrast to other Middle East countries, where government crackdowns have led to ever greater demands for political change.
Attempts to stifle dissent in Tunisia and Egypt hastened the downfall of those governments. In Yemen, the opposition has escalated its demands for the ouster of President Ali Abdullah Saleh in response to violent clashes in the capital, San'a.
Al Wefaq said more than 100 people have disappeared or been detained in the 12 days since Bahrain's security forces, backed by a Saudi-led Gulf military contingent, launched a crackdown that cleared protesters from the streets of the capital, Manama, and their encampment at Pearl roundabout.
Seven key opposition leaders are among them, arrested on suspicion of inciting violence or of "forging links with foreign powers," which analysts and opposition leaders say is a thinly veiled reference to Iran.
Last week, Bahrain gave its sternest warning yet to Iran to keep out of its affairs, saying an escalation in the two countries' dispute over Bahrain's crackdown on political unrest could even lead to "conflict."
Waad, the Sunni-led secularist party led by one of those detainees, Ebrahim Sharif, said its offices have been attacked and torched twice since the crackdown began, and it blamed progovernment militias. The government has said it will investigate the incidents.
The arrest of other opposition leaders has isolated Al Wefaq and made it more willing to offer concessions.
In another setback for the opposition, Bahrain's largest trade union last week suspended a weeklong general strike after the government offered assurances it would ensure workers' physical safety at checkpoints, robbing protest groups of economic leverage over the government.
With central Manama secured by military and security forces, life in the capital has started to return to normal.
Bahrain's shopping malls were noticeably busier this weekend, and the government on Sunday cut the nationwide curfew time for the second time in as many days, a sign of its growing confidence that protests can be stifled.
But clashes continue in the Shiite villages that surround Manama, where the atmosphere remains tense.
On Sunday afternoon in the Shiite village of Karzakhan, military vehicles, groups of soldiers and riot police advanced from checkpoints on the main road into the village.
Armored personnel carriers, transporters and bulldozers cleared protesters' makeshift roadblocks while surveillance helicopters circled overhead.
"They have been shooting every night . . . . Everyone is scared, they are pulling people from their cars and beating them," said a man who identified himself as Ahmed, a car salesman, from the village.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
28-03-11 0350GMT
