“The Gulf Center for Human Rights (GCHR) has received information concerning the sentencing of human rights defender Mohammed Albajady in Saudi Arabia, to four years in prison imprisonment followed by a five-year travel ban. The sentence was handed down following a secret trial in flagrant breach of fair procedures and in total disregard for his right to a fair trial. Mohammed Albajady co-founded the Saudi Civil & Political Rights Association (HSM), in October 2009. He was previously the host of a weekly on-line forum called “The citizen and his rights”. The GCHR issued an appeal on his case on 10 April 2012 (http://gc4hr.org/news/view/116). On 10 April 2012 the Special Criminal Court in Riyadh, established to try terrorism and security-related offences, reportedly held a secret session during which the four-year prison sentence was handed down. According to information received, soldiers in military uniforms and representative of the governmental National Human Rights Commission attended the trial. However, neither Mohammed Albajady‘s family nor his legal representatives were told of the court session…………”
This was a classic Saudi kangaroo court: his lawyers and his family were not aware of the court session that sentenced him. That means Mohammed al-Bejady was alone in a room facing some sycophants of the al-Saud princes calling themselves “judges”. In the secret trial, he was sentenced to two prison sentences. The first sentence is four years in a small al-Saud cell. The second sentence is five years travel ban: in effect five years in a larger al-Saud cell. Arab regimes, especially on the Gulf, love to sentence people to travel bans (it is probably against the laws and against human rights to do so, but who cares). A reminder of the old Soviet Union. I guess our potentates on the Gulf look at it this way: four year not traveling means four years staring at the pictures and videos of the princes all over the media. Not only do they oppress and rob you, but you are forced to watch them honored for it everyday. Just adding some insult to the injury. That ought to be punishment enough. Mr. al-Bajady will now serve nine years: a sentence passed by faceless Wahhabi Salafi judges appointed by the al-Saud princes. Many others have been sentenced the same way, some to prison, some to flogging and beheading in the Kingdom without Magic. Many thousands are in prison, many of them have yet to be charged and sentenced. Cheers
mhg
““Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, a prominent Bahraini human rights activist who was sentenced to life imprisonment in a military court, is now in a critical stage of a hunger strike which has gone on for 64 days. Foreign doctors who have been to see him have said he is at serious risk of death if he continues. The Bahraini government has rejected increasing international pressure to release him, and has limited outside access. His plight has begun to draw attention to the failure of reform in Bahrain, including an unusual White House statement yesterday. If he dies, it could mark a significant breaking point for the regime’s efforts to rehabilitate its tarnished reputation — and could accelerate the disturbing trend toward militant radicalization in the opposition. Hunger striking has become a distinctive phenomenon in the current round of Arab protest movements. It has a long history, marking many of the major emancipatory struggles throughout the world from British suffragettes to Sri Lankan Tamil Tigers. It has recently emerged as a particularly important form of protest against tyrannical states. From Palestine, to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, prisoners of conscience have used the last thing they control — their bodies — as a tool of dissent. Palestinian Hana Shalabi was released by the Israelis after a 43-day hunger strike, while Mohamed Albajadi in Saudi Arabia is on his 33rd day. Al-Khawaja’s hunger strike, by dovetailing on the back of a revolutionary tide, and supported by a digitally wired and outspoken family, has elevated his protest beyond his prison walls……………” Foreign Policy
If Al-Khawaja of Bahrain and al-Bejadi of the Arabian Peninsula, with their brave acts of self-sacrifice, are trying to shame the Western powers they will not succeed. Western governments have proven their total hypocrisy and shamelessness this past year, from Washington through London and Paris to Berlin. They opposed the Arab uprisings until the fall of the despots in Tunisia and Egypt, then they rode the bandwagon. They were friends of Qaddafi until his country was split by revolt. They supported the despot in Yemen and, along with the Saudis, contrived to keep his hapless regime in power without him. They continue to support the murderous regime in Bahrain, ignoring its despotic and gangster nature. The only Arab people the Western powers seem to profess to really like are the Syrians. They have shown eagerness to help get rid of the dictator of Damascus, but only him among all Arab despots. Now if you think a reactionary opportunistic politician like Joe Lieberman is looking for the interests of the Syrian people, I still have that one-eyed lame camel for sale. Cheers
mhg
“Arab leaders on Thursday urged a swift and peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria at a landmark summit in Baghdad, with Iraq’s premier warning that arming rival camps there would lead to a “proxy war.” Nuri al-Maliki’s remarks highlighted the split in the Arab League, with hardliners Qatar and Saudi Arabia calling for Assad to step down and for rebels opposing his regime to be supplied with weapons, while others including Iraq are pushing for political reconciliation. Qatar and Saudi Arabia were among Gulf countries that largely snubbed the summit, with the two countries only sending envoys to the first Arab meet to be held in the Iraqi capital in more than 20 years. Doha said its decision was a “message” to Iraq………..”
Possibly the Iraqis and the real situation on the ground in Syria may have pushed the Arab League to come out against foreign intervention. The Syrian opposition, no matter how much of the population it represents, seems unable to coordinate let alone unify. The nominal leaders of the SNC are now purely symbolic ambassadors of anti-regime forces. It is the various armed groups that call the shots inside Syria and they are even more divided than ever. Baghdad also represented its own message to the summit: where else are the consequences of Western intervention and liberation more dramatic than in Iraq? Then the leaders meeting in Western-liberated Iraq also had “Western-liberated” Libya in mind, where small battles rage every day between militias in different cities of the country. They know that Libya was liberated by NATO, not by the rebels nor by Qatar or the UAE who between them don’t have enough citizens to from a medium-sized army. As for Qatar sending a “message to Iraq”: with all respect, some of our GCC regimes are silly, nearly absurd, in fact ridiculous (and I am not talking about Bahrain only although that regime is the mot ridiculous). Qatar probably has a couple of hundred thousand citizens (and a lot more temporary foreign laborers), and yet it is sending ‘messages’ right and left. The only country that the Qatar potentates have to truly fear is Saudi Arabia which tried at least once (late 1990s) to overthrow its current emir through yet another coup. Qatar probably needs to send a “message” toward Riyadh, if anywhere. Brotherly, or is it sisterly, Saudi Wahhabi tanks are as close to Doha as they were to Manama a year ago. They may have been defeated by the Huthis in Yemen, but the road to Doha is smooth with no ragtag Huthis to stop them. Cheers
mhg
“The President of the Tunisian Jewish Community Roger Bismuth has expressed deep concern over the security of Tunisia’s Jewish Community, and has called on the government to take immediate action against those who incite hatred against others. During Sunday’s Salafist demonstration on Avenue Habib Bourguiba, one Salafist preacher shouted “young people rise up, let’s wage a war against the Jews,” to a cheering crowd chanting “God is great.” Bismuth announced that he will be taking legal action against the Salafist preacher. “We can’t have this violent speech in our country… it is not the first time this has happened… it is totally unacceptable and I am going to take him to court,” said Bismuth. While Bismuth told Tunisia Live he has been unable to meet today with Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali, he paid a visit to the President of the Constituent Assembly Mustapha Ben Jaafar, who strongly condemned the Salafist preacher……….”
These f—cking Salafists, all they talk about is destroying the ‘other’, killing the ‘other’. They are mostly probably fifth column agents of despotic absolute monarchs, yet they are superb at taking advantage of situations. Just as they did after the Arab uprisings. Their aim wherever they are in the Middle East is to create a totally homogeneous Salafi society where everyone looks alike, talks alike, thinks alike, prays together, and grows their dyed beards to the same shaggy length (using the same brand of Islamic black dye or Henna). Possibly even marry the same regulation four wives (appetizers until the end of time, what the Christian Evangelicals await as the Rapture and the Salafis see as ‘party time’). A society where everyone is as ignorant and stupid as everyone else. They will continue to agitate in Tunisia, as they are doing all over, especially on the Persian Gulf, until they either get their way or are sent to the Ile du Diable in the desert where they belong. Over there, they can worship absolute kings and polygamous robber princes to their hearts’ content. Without bothering decent folks.
Of course once the Salafis are in control, everybody else will be in danger, not just minorities. Many Muslims and Arabs will be in danger as well. Cheers
mhg
“The year-long effort to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad and his government has failed. Two or three months ago, it seemed to come close to succeeding, as insurgents took over enclaves in cities such as Homs and Deir el-Zour. There was talk of no-fly zones and foreign military intervention. Severe economic sanctions were slapped on Syria’s already faltering economy. Every day brought news of fresh pressure on Assad and the momentum seemed to build inexorably for a change of rule in Damascus. It has not happened. Syria will not be like Libya. The latest international action has been an EU ban on Assad’s wife, Asma, and his mother travelling to EU countries (though, as a UK citizen, Asma can still travel to Britain). As damp squibs go, this is of the dampest. …………. “
They sanctioned his mother? The widow of Hafiz al-Assad and the mother of Bashar? The widow of the man all Western and Arab leaders were courting and kissing up to for thirty years? Cockburn is absolutely right here: they can’t figure out what else to do about him. This is scraping the bottom of the ‘moral’ barrel. What next? The wife of the king of Bahrain? Mrs. Ahmadinejad? How about Sarah Netanyahu? Or a favorite concubine of the king of….… Cheers
mhg
Captain Renault: “Major Strasser’s been shot. Round up the usual suspects.“Casablanca
“Washington believes Iran is working with Shi’ite Muslim rebels in northern Yemen and secessionists in the country’s south to expand its influence at the expense of Yemen’s Gulf neighbours, the U.S. envoy to Sanaa was quoted as saying on Sunday. The pan-Arab daily al-Hayat cited Gerald Feierstein, in an interview in London, as accusing Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Hamas of helping their backers in Shi’ite Iran at the expense of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a bloc in which Sunni-led oil giant Saudi Arabia’s influence is dominant. “The Iranians want to build influence in Yemen… both internally and more broadly in the region by establishing a foothold in the Arabian Peninsula,” the paper quoted Feierstein as saying in remarks published in Arabic. “It’s something that’s naturally regarded as a security threat to Saudi Arabia and the rest of the GCC states.” Feierstein told Reuters in an interview last month that there were signs of greater Iranian activity in Yemen, There is evidence that Hezbollah and Hamas support this Iranian effort……….”
Also sprach the US ambassador quoted by Saudi semi-official daily al-Hayat (owned by Prince Khalid Bin Sultan).
Yemen is much more complex than the picture this ambassador paints. Al-Qaeda has become a major disruptive force across Yemen now, including the once secular south. That is what 20 years of union with the tribal north Yemen has done to the rest of the country. That and nearly twenty years of Saudi Wahhabi influence. The fact is that the GCC (Saudi) plan that the West supported in Yemen does not meet the aspirations of most Yemeni people (excluding Tawakkol Karman). The killings by regime forces continue, except that Arab and Western media are not covering them anymore. The people want a regime change, but they had a reactionary status-quo GCC plan rammed down their throats. Clearly they are not accepting it. There is some Iranian involvement and influence in parts of Yemen, just as there are Saudi influences in parts of Yemen. And there is American influence, especially in the skies. But it is not clear how Hamas and Hezbollah got together in Yemen. Hamas is Muslim Brotherhood Sunni, Hezbollah is Shi’a. Maybe the ambassador has some evidence he can’t share with the public. It is also quite likely he is just mouthing the same old manta the Yemen regime has been repeating for the past two or three years. The “foreign interference” mantra most Arab regimes repeat when they are in trouble in places like Bahrain and Syria and before them in Egypt and Libya. Of course, this is not to say there is no Iranian interference, there probably is some of that (the theory of political vacuum and all that). But Hamas and Hezbollah? That sounds like a 2012 American presidential campaign slogan, produced by AIPAC. Cheers
mhg
“The first major test of U.S. post-war influence in Iraq is now raging over efforts to stop Iran from funneling arms to Syria through Iraqi airspace, but the Iraqis are either unwilling or unable to assure the United States the shipments will cease. Last week, the Washington Times reported that the Iraqi government was refusing to halt Iranian cargo flights to Syria that fly over Iraqi airspace, despite the fact that U.S. officials believe the flights carry massive and illegal shipments of arms to aid President Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which is murdering civilians by the thousands in its struggle to keep power. Publicly, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has stated the shipments contain “humanitarian goods, not weapons.” However, U.S. officials aren’t buying that excuse, and have been repeatedly pressing Maliki behind the scenes to make Iran halt the arms shipments, with limited if any success……….”
No doubt the Iranians are sending some weapons and equipment to Syria, among other things they send to help the Assad regime. Yet whatever Iran sends by air pales in comparison to what the Syrians get by sea from the Russian fleet based on the Syrian coast. Which always puzzled me: the Russians can and do provide much better weapons to Syria from safe sea routes (Black Sea to Mediterranean). And they can ship real heavy equipment and armor by sea. Whatever the Iranians provide must be small change, unless the Russians have decided to stop or restrict their Syrian arms shipments, and there is no so indication of that yet. So why all the fuss about smaller Iranian shipments? Could it be political rather than of any military value? Yes, it could, it could. The Iraqis would love to get their hands on sophisticated warplanes to replace their old Baath air force that was destroyed, ironically, by the United States. This is a bargaining chip the Obama administration can use, may be using. On the other hands, there are other suppliers willing to supply the Iraqis with warplanes, but these are not as good as American brands. These are the variables. Oh, and there is an Arab ‘summit’ scheduled for Baghdad soon which the Iraqis would like to succeed and some neighborly Arabs would love to fail. Cheers
mhg
Dhahi Khalfan, the Dubai Chief of Police, is the most outspoken official in the United Arab Emirates. The most outspoken official in all the Gulf states. He rose to public prominence after the Israeli Mossad killed a Palestinian Hamas official in a Dubai hotel. Mossad botched the killing by reportedly using more than 35 operatives just to kill one man, all with false passports, and it was all caught on hotel cameras.
Since then Colonel Khalfan has been venturing into the realm of regional politics more than law enforcement. These days
Dhahi Khalfan has his sights on the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood. He started with a dispute with Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the Egyptian cleric who is close to the Qatari rulers. Apparently Qaradawi had criticized the UAE rulers and Khalfan could not help responding, noting that Qaradawi is now banned from the UAE and that he ought to issue an order for his arrest. Yesterday
he publicly opined in an interview with the Kuwaiti daily al-Qabas that the Muslim Brothers are plotting to take over the Gulf GCC states. He warned that they will take over power in Kuwait in 2013 then move on to the other Gulf states. (Kuwait’s current parliament, elected last month, is dominated by Islamic extremists allied with reactionary tribal elements. Some argue, credibly, that it is the worst parliament in the country’s history. The deputy speaker is a Salafi multimillionaire, wtf that may mean in the grand scheme of things). Khalfan opined that by 2016 the Muslim Brotherhood will dominate all the Gulf GCC states. He claims reports of the plot have been leaked by Western intelligence agencies. This
is quite a departure from the usual Saudi and Salafi (and local Gulf Muslim Brotherhood) claim that the Gulf GCC states face some wild Iranian or a Shi’a plot, or a combination plot from both.
I have no comment on this today. Maybe later. definitely later. Cheers
mhg
“It seems a sorry outcome after the Arab Spring raised the cry of equal citizenship and democracy around the region………… The clearest support for rebellion in Syria has come from overtly anti-Shia, militant Salafi groups that have been gaining strength in Lebanon for many years. Based originally in Palestinian camps, especially Ain el-Helweh in Sidon, they have been hardened by battle experience in Iraq and have expanded operations, especially in Tripoli. Mikati recently confirmed that the authorities had arrested a group within the army plotting to attack military bases; the Lebanese media reported that the militants were part of the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, an al-Qaeda affiliate. Ahmad Moussalli, professor of political science and Islamic studies at the American University of Beirut, argues this may be only the beginning of the story. “It would be surprising not to uncover more al-Qaeda-affiliated Salafi terrorist cells,” he says. “Keep in mind that the Salafis do not recognize the legitimacy of the Lebanese state and its security and military personnel. Now, these groups are emboldened by the opposition in Syria, given that the opposition is largely composed of Islamic forces supported by Salafi Wahhabi states, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, as well as other Islamic and Western states. The Salafi condition is going to be a major problem that the Lebanese government has to face before the north of Lebanon turns into a hotbed for al-Qaeda and other Salafists under the pretext of fighting the Syrian regime.”………….. “
If the history of the demise of the ‘Arab Spring” is ever written by an impartial person (unlike me), perhaps Tars Tarkas from Barsoom (Mars), he or she will note the following:
Early in 2011, the Iranian mullahs improbably and brazenly claimed that the uprisings were inspired by their own theocracy. Their claims were self-serving but wrong: if any Iranian movement inspired the Arab uprisings, it was probably the 2009 Green movement. Few Arabs want to be ruled by a theocracy, and that is also the case in majority Shi’a countries like Iraq and Bahrain. That is probably also true of the Saudis, who are already ruled by a theocracy.
The Arab uprisings started as mainly secular movements for freedom and equality and better economic conditions. As this piece I quoted notes, it has descended into sectarianism, by deliberate design and not by accident.
The Arab uprisings started at a time when three or four oil-rich Arab states dominated the League of Arab Potentates. With the unraveling of the stagnant regime in Cairo and the fall of the outspoken Qaddafi, with Iraq being deliberately kept out of the Arab circle, the field was open for the princes.
Money is being used to support various Islamist groups that owe allegiance to different dynasties. The Salafis’ first and only true love are the Saudi princes (and their palace ulema and muftis). This is especially true of the Salafist movements on the Persian Gulf, basically a Saudi fifth column. It also extends to Egypt and the Levant and Libya.
Money is also being used to softly blackmail countries like Egypt and Tunisia, possibly others, to keep them in line. Billions of Saudi and other aid money are promised, to Egypt for example, but none of it has actually been paid. Pending some policy ‘modifications’ vis-à-vis regional issues. The Egyptians have already complained of being promised aid without the funds actually materializing.
The Saudis have been ready, from a media and propaganda side, for the Arab uprisings. Over the past two decades, Saudi princes and their retainers and surrogates have been buying up and establishing vast Arab media networks. The names define an Arab media “Who is Who”: Alarabiya, Asharq Alawsat, Al-Hayat, MBC, LBC, Orbit, Rotana, etc etc etc. All that besides other media whose ‘services’ they purchase. All these outlets dominate Arab airwaves and satellites and they have had one message since at least 2003: sectarianism. The al-Saud princes know that sectarian tensions and divisiveness are the best way to divert attention away from real political and economic issues, especially on our Gulf of Sectarianism.
Now the Arab Spring looks more like an Arab winter, with the most despotic, most regressive, most reactionary dynasties dominating the “Arab System’ as never before. The Saudis and Qataris and others call the shots, for now. They are even adopting their own Arab uprisings in places like Syria (as they did in Libya), calling for the Western powers to repeat the ‘liberation’ of Iraq.
All this can be deceiving: once the Arab rebellions ‘win’, once some form of elected regimes are in place, the remaining depots, in the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain and other places, will begin to feel the pressure. Money can buy you love for a limited time: one hour, one night, one week, or maybe longer.
“Exactly one year ago, I was in Doha to speak at the Al Jazeera Forum, where a remarkable group of Arab politicians, intellectuals and activists had assembled to talk about the seemingly unstoppable momentum of the changes sweeping the region. Moncef Marzouki, then a human rights dissident and now President of Tunisia, told me about his hopes for crafting a genuinely democratic constitution — hopes which al-Nahda leader Rached Ghannouchi assured me he shared. Tareq el-Bishri gave a long speech about how Egypt’s 1952 revolution gave way to despotism and military rule; the youth activists in the audience could hardly mask their boredom with the old man, but perhaps should have listened more carefully. The Libyan revolutionaries at the conference were treated like rock stars, as were the youth activists from Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries. The mood was celebratory and electric, though tinged by anxiety over the atrocities in Libya and reports of Qaddafi’s forces moving towards Benghazi.
But in retrospect, the week of March 12 marked the precise turning point away from the “New Hope” of those dizzying Tahrir days towards the grimmer, darker political struggles to come. I never made my scheduled trip from Doha to Manama. That week, the Empire struck back: Saudi Arabia helped ruin Bahrain……….” Cheers
mhg
