Bahrainis to continue protests

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170692.html

Bahrainis will continue with the anti-government protests until their demands are met regardless of the regime's brutal crackdown backed by foreign military invasion, an analyst says.

“The people in Bahrain will continue with their demands peacefully... and they will not go home without a resolution for what they demand,” said Sheikh Ali Salman with Bahrain's al-Wifaq Society in a Saturday interview with Press TV.

He pointed to the Bahrainis' unwavering resolve in adhering to their cause (intifada) and noted that time was ripe for the small ruling kingdom to deliver on people's demands and relinquish power.

Demonstrators have been demanding the ouster of the 230-year-old Sunni-led monarchy as well as constitutional reforms since February 14.

Sheikh Salman added that “other institutions” must now replace the minority ruling dynasty in order to keep the small Persian Gulf state from further chaos.

The political party member in Manama said that Bahrainis “believe in a peaceful movement and revolution” despite the foreign military incursion into the country.

On Friday, Bahrain TV showed footage of a convoy of troops from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) arriving in the capital Manama following a similar intervention by Saudi Arabia forces.

Earlier, Bahraini Foreign Minister Sheikh Khaled bin Ahmed al-Khalifa announced that three or four Persian Gulf countries would be sending troops to help quell the anti-government demonstrations that have rocked the country.

Sheikh Salman referred to the arrest of opposition activists and protesters and rejected the idea of negotiations with the government's heavy-handed clampdown on the protests.

He called on the UN to probe the killings of Bahraini citizens and accounts of inquisitions and persecutions by the order of al-Khalifa dynasty in the sheikhdom.

At least 12 people have been killed and about 1,000 injured during the anti-government protests in the tiny kingdom, where the United States Fifth Fleet is based.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and other human rights organizations have strongly condemned the military intervention and have called the action illegal.