News Release

Bahrain Repression: Saudi Troops, U.S. Arms, Al-Jazeera Silence

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A source in Bahrain who wishes to remain anonymous for their personal safety told the Institute of Public Accuracy this afternoon: “The regime has just arrested Lin Noueihed of Reuters and some other reporters. [Noueihed’s last piece]

“Other countries are getting rid of their emergency laws, while Bahrain is imposing a new martial law. Things are incredibly tense. The regime is saying it wants a ‘cleansing operation’ — some Saudi and Kuwaiti media are using this term as well. The state media in Bahrain are continuing to be incredibly sectarian, creating enmity. Other media are being seriously intimidated, some have been beaten. Al-Jazeera is incredibly silent. I fear there could be a civil war and I fear it could spread. In this small country, 20 peaceful protesters have been killed and, according to the opposition, 100 people are missing and hundreds have been detained by the regime.

“We need serious help. The UN should at least meet to discuss what his happening here. The Saudis have moved into Bahrain and are interfering in one way or another in every Arab country. They don’t want positive developments in Tunisia and Egypt to spread to other countries.”

HUSAIN ABDULLA
Abdulla is director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain. He said today: “There are extensive protests throughout Bahrain. It’s difficult to get one large protest in the central square because the regime has broken them up. The Saudi troops are still there of course, but getting them out has become a rallying cry for the protesters. The regime is using U.S. tear gas, weapons and Apache helicopters. Sen. Patrick Leahy is pressuring the Pentagon to make a determination about whether this violates U.S. law, using U.S. weapons to repress people. Al-Jazeera, and especially Al-Jazeera Arabic is incredibly quiet about the protests, they seem to only be for protests far away from Qatar [where Al-Jazeera is based].” See interview with The Real News

For Twitter pics and updates: #feb14, @MazenMahdi

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167