Tuesday, March 15, 2011

State of emergency imposed: military takes control in Bahrain

In Bahrain escalates the conflict between the government and its opponents. The government on Tuesday imposed a state of emergency. On the instructions of the king will the military for three months to take control of the island nation, said in a Tuesday statement read out on state television. It should "all necessary measures are taken to ensure the security of the country and its citizens" to protect.

It was initially unclear whether banned meetings or the media will be further restricted. Now that 1000 soldiers of the Saudi National Guard, and 500 police officers from the United Arab Emirates at the request of the government have come to Bahrain, the predominantly Shiite opposition before quilting adventure as a "declaration of war" means.

The protest movement intensified its roadblocks around the beads in place of the capital Manama, where is their central camp. For what purpose exactly the foreign troops were brought into the country, remained unclear. The Bahraini television shows invading Arab troops to Bahrain. The Saudi soldiers who had come in 150 and 50 armored vehicles armed to Bahrain participated in the district of Manama Riffa list.

There you will find the Palace of the Al Khalifa royal family and a non-public military hospital. That means a relief of some bahr's security forces, which now could reduce or even to the suppression of focus of the protests. Foreign special policemen are officially recognized as part of a rapid reaction force of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which consists of non-Bahraini, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, Oman and Qatar.

The U.S. government criticized the deployment of foreign security forces in Bahrain. President spokesman Jay Carney called upon the GCC states to "show restraint, to respect the rights of the people of Bahrain and to act in a way that promotes dialogue and not undermine." Even UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon warned of a further escalation.

The State Department advised against travel to Bahrain from and put American citizens in Bahrain near the exit. The EU foreign policy chief, Catherine expanded clay exhorted the Bahrain government and its opponents to "utmost restraint". Washington had the GCC states in advance advised not to interfere in Bahrain.

Now, America's relations with Saudi Arabia are passed on. For the past few weeks, planned visits by Hillary Clinton and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were in Riyadh by the Saudi King Abdullah have each been canceled at the last minute. "They are currently in no mood to listen to us," a senior government employee in Washington was quoted as saying.

The Saudi Information Minister Abdulaziz al Chodscha justified the deployment so that a split of the "sons of the Arabian Gulf is threatened and a confessional provocation must be prevented. The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, Anwar Gargash, said the Emirates followed the development in Bahrain with concern.

Therefore, they had responded to the request of the kingdom, there to restore security and internal stability. The action was a sign of the commitment of the UAE in the GCC. The regional security requires that six members of the GCC came together to protect its achievements and to keep religious unrest.

The Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Al Thani, defended the deployment of Saudi and Emirati units as part of the defense agreement among the GCC countries. These are required to make the request of a Member State to follow. He did not rule out that Qatar's always ready to use "peacekeepers" can send as well.

The Prime Minister called on the protesters in Bahrain, to accept the offer to a serious national dialogue. The only way the conflict is settled. Iran, meanwhile, warned against a foreign intervention in Bahrain. The peaceful protests were an internal matter Bahr One, according to news agency Fars said a senior Iranian diplomat.

Iran sees itself as the protector of the Shiites and is therefore in competition with the Sunni Saudi Arabia. The Sunni deputies Adel Muawada in some bahr's parliament evaluates the presence of foreign security forces not to provoke the demonstrators. This he called an end to the roadblock and the invitation of Crown Prince to the "national dialogue" to accept.

Shiite MPs Matar Ibrahim Matar, who resigned with the other 17 Shiite representatives of the people his credentials as a protest against the violence of the security forces said, however, military forces, which now stood against unarmed demonstrators. The Wifaq Party, the members of the 18 retired members, is ready for a dialogue with the government and the royal family, more radical opposition groups are not.

The union federation said on Tuesday in a general strike.

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