Saudis blacklisted by EU, documentary indicts Khalifis of serious crimes
On Sunday 14th July Saudi killers stormed the town of Al-Jish in the Eastern Province and killed an innocent civilian. Majed Abdulla Al-Adam was assassinated in Qatif by the regime’s forces who attacked the town using overwhelming force. Several natives were liquidated by the Saudi killers this year in raids on their towns and villages. Extra-judicial killings have been rampant both in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
Last week the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Republican chairman, Senator Jim Risch, introduced legislation punishing Saudi Arabia over human rights abuses and criticizing Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, but not halting weapons sales. The bill is the latest effort in Congress to hold the kingdom accountable for rights abuses, including the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi at a Saudi consulate in Turkey and a humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are waging a dirty war. “The Crown Prince has frequently behaved in a reckless manner, including arresting those opposed to his rule,” the bill says, adding that bin Salman’s actions could “significantly harm” U.S.-Saudi relations.
The European Union is preparing an overhaul of its listing of countries that pose money-laundering risks, an EU confidential document shows, a review that could allow Saudi Arabia to be moved to a new grey list after having been blacklisted. The EU executive added the oil-rich kingdom in February to its blacklist of 23 jurisdictions that represent a threat to the bloc because of lax controls against terrorism financing and money laundering, but after Saudi pressure the list was struck down by EU states. Fearful of the economic impact of that listing, European governments led by Britain and France developed the grey-listing procedure.
On Sunday 14th July serious crimes were attributed to the khalifi dictators of Bahrain by Al Jazeera news channel. It broadcast a documentary entitled “Those who Play with Fire” containing secret recordings of Bahraini intelligence officers planning and coordinating attacks on opposition activists. Three Bahraini intelligence officers recruited Al-Qaeda commanders to form a secret cell to assassinate Bahraini opposition activists, according to the documentary, on orders from KingHamad bin Isa al-Khalifa. The list of opposition activists to be assassinated included Abdul Wahab Hussain, a prominent leader of the opposition who played an important role in the 2011 Bahraini uprising against the khalifi dictatorship. The documentary said Hamad personally intervened to have one of the Al-Qaeda commanders, Mohammed Saleh, released when he was imprisoned in Saudi Arabia. The documentary also quoted a retired CIA officer, John Kiriakou, as saying that intelligence obtained from notes made by Abu Zubaydah, a Guantanamo Bay detainee who was previously accused by the US of being an Al-Qaeda leader and extensively tortured by the CIA, had mentioned three members of the Saudi royal family. When the CIA contacted the three Saudi royals, they disappeared and their bodies were later found in the desert. The documentary added that Bahraini intelligence officers also travelled to Iran to coordinate with JundAllah, a militant group based in Iran’s southeastern province of Baluchistan which claims to fight for equal rights for Iranian Sunnis but is accused of having links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
On Sunday 14th July the people of Nuwaidrat town took to the streets declaring the right of the people to demand the downfall the hereditary dictatorship. Protests have also continued in several areas. Yesterday there were protests at the towns of Abu Saiba and Shakhoura. In the early hours of yesterday khalifi forces snatched native Bahraini Ali Khalid from his town of Abu Saiba in mysterious circumstances. His whereabouts are unknown.
On 11th July regime’s kangaroo courts issued harsh prison sentences against seven innocent people. The victims are: Muntadar Ali Al-Rayes, Ahmad Jaffar Ibrahim, Sayed Murtada Fadel, Ali Mohammad Al-Ghasra, Sayed Hashim Sharaf, Ahmad Sayed Moosa Fadel and Sayed Ali Taha Fadel. They are all from Duraz town.
Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain (ADHRB) has called for the immediate and unconditional release of Mohammad Al Singace who has now spent 26 days on hunger strike at Jau prison. He is calling for a retrial and immediate release as he maintains his innocence and rejects the charges against him. Mr Al-Singace has lost a lot of his weight and is on the fringe of collapse. ADHRB has also expressed serious concerns about the health of Dr Abdul Jalil Al-Singace who has been denied proper medical care. Last week he developed severe pains in his chest and abdomen but the prison authorities have refused to transfer him to hospital despite repeated requests. Dr Al-Singace is a disabled person with Polio since birth.
Bahrain Freedom Movement
17th July 2019 (info@vob.org, www.vob.org)