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| Bahrain and Syria - live coverage | Bahrain and Syria - live coverage |
| (40 minutes later) | |
| 10.40am: Bahrain: In a slightly bizarre article, the Bahraini Gulf Daily News has mocked journalists who criticised the staging of the Bahrain GP, reporting that it did not stop them helping themselves to the lavish hospitality on offer: | |
Foreign journalists who attacked Bahrain for hosting the Formula One race were spotted happily tucking into a free BBQ run by the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC). | |
| Many of them called for the race to be scrapped but were seen enjoying Bahraini hospitality during the "Flavours of Sakhir Bahrain-style BBQ" at the Paddock area on Saturday, which was attended by teams, sponsors, media and other guests. | |
| "There were many of them (foreign journalists) there, who had just weeks ago had been advocating the race should not be held in Bahrain and said they would not be happy at going there," said one journalist, who attended the event. | |
| "They must have realised Bahrain is not the place to miss. Bahrain is certainly not Syria. It's a very hospitable country and life goes on as usual." | |
| Those journalists did not include a Channel 4 team, including foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller, that was deported from Bahrain after they were arrested while covering a demonstration on Sunday. | |
| The Sunday Telegraph's chief foreign correspondent, and his local fixer, were also detained - for three hours - on Sunday on suspicion of attending an "illegal demonstration". The fixer, Mohammed Hassan Sudaif, had only been released from custody on Sunday morning, having been arrested and beaten up while accompanying journalists to a demonstration on Friday. | |
| 10.30am: Arriving for the EU meeting of foreign ministers at which new sanctions were imposed on the Syrian regime, the UK's foreign minister, William Hague (pictured left), said that the Assad government was "not in full compliance with the ceasefire requirements of the Annan plan". He said: | |
| "It is very important to discuss Syria to continue to intensify the pressure on the Assad regime, which is not in full compliance with the ceasefire requirements of the Annan plan. It is hard to be optimistic after everything that has happened in the last 13 months in Syria. The Syrian regime continues to fail to implement key aspects of the ceasefire and clearly there are breaches going on." | |
| Hague said he hoped a new security council resolution adpoted on Saturday dramatically increasing the number of peace monitors in Syria from 30 to 300 would have the right impact. He said: | |
| The resolution is progress. I hope it helps to stop the scale of slaughter we have seen in the recent few months, but it does not mean the problem is resolved. This is a regime that is continuing in some cases to kill, to abuse, that only implemented the ceasefire at the last possible moment and still hasn't implemented key requirements of the ceasefire, so it's far too early for optimism. | |
| 10.15am: Bahrain: In a blogpost, US academic Justin Gengler has accused Bahrain's minister of culture, Shaikha Mai, of reversing the results of research he carried out for his dissertation in an attempt to show that Sunnis are a majority in Bahrain and not a minority as is widely reported. | |
| Gengler says the distorted results of his study appear in a paper called Notions of Identity in the Bahrain Unrest of 2011, published in Turkish Policy Quarterly. | |
| Gengler writes: | |
| The statistical results of my survey make it into the third paragraph of the paper, framing indeed the entire discussion. The point of this introductory section is, apparently, to dispel the "simplistic media myth[s]" surrounding the issue of Bahrain's sectarian demographics. Through these "popular media presentations," Sh. Mai observes, Bahrain is portrayed as "a divided society in which a minority Sunni power base rules over a Shia majority," whereas she notes that "this has never been statistically proven." | |
| Enter the findings of "an American researcher" (i.e., me): | |
| "Interestingly, however, a recent population sampling of 500 Bahraini households by an American researcher found that the Sunni-Shia split was 57.6% - 42.4%." | |
| Thus, the larger context of the discussion as well as the presentation of the actual figures clearly suggest that my survey found, contrary to popular belief, that Sunnis in fact are a majority of the population in Bahrain, at 57.6%, with Shi'a comprising a 42.4% minority. | |
| The only problem, then, is that this is exactly the reverse of my published findings, which is obvious enough from the graph below. The original blog post where this graph originally appeared notes explicitly (as does the full discussion in my dissertation), | |
| "As for the findings regarding Bahrain's Sunni-Shia balance, then, we see this below. Bahraini Shias comprised 58% of my survey sample, Sunnis 42%." | |
| 9.51am: Syria: The Local Coordination Committees activist group in Syria is reporting arrests of opponents of the regime in Hama and Aleppo, as well as gunfire in Deraa. | |
Hama: Random arrests took place at the neighbourhood of Sawaeq this morning in coincide with heavy gunfire reported at the eastern side and at the northern part of Masha' al-Arbaeen neighbourhood | Hama: Random arrests took place at the neighbourhood of Sawaeq this morning in coincide with heavy gunfire reported at the eastern side and at the northern part of Masha' al-Arbaeen neighbourhood |
| Aleppo: Bab: A campaign of raids and arbitrary arrests was launched by the regime forces in the area; among the detainees: Najih Hassan al-Tamro, Mohammed and Ahmed Khairo al-Tamro | Aleppo: Bab: A campaign of raids and arbitrary arrests was launched by the regime forces in the area; among the detainees: Najih Hassan al-Tamro, Mohammed and Ahmed Khairo al-Tamro |
| Deraa: Hirak: Gunfire is reported in the city amid military reinforcement for the checkpoints | Deraa: Hirak: Gunfire is reported in the city amid military reinforcement for the checkpoints |
| These reports cannot be independently verified. | These reports cannot be independently verified. |
| 9.12am: Syria: The European Union has agreed new sanctions on the Syrian regime, banning luxury goods exports and further restricting the sale of items used to repress dissidents, Middle East Online reports, citing a diplomat. | |
| "The Assad couple, as well as his inner circle and leaders of the regime must be made to understand that events in Syria will also impact their personal lives," the source added. | "The Assad couple, as well as his inner circle and leaders of the regime must be made to understand that events in Syria will also impact their personal lives," the source added. |
| A cache of what appear to be private emails from the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, his wife and other members of their inner circle, obtained by the Guardian and published in March, showed Asma al-Assad busy buying luxury goods from London and Paris, including jewellery, a £2,650 vase and £10,000 worth of candlesticks, tables and chandeliers, during the regime's crackdown on internal dissent. | A cache of what appear to be private emails from the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, his wife and other members of their inner circle, obtained by the Guardian and published in March, showed Asma al-Assad busy buying luxury goods from London and Paris, including jewellery, a £2,650 vase and £10,000 worth of candlesticks, tables and chandeliers, during the regime's crackdown on internal dissent. |
| 8.55am: Good morning. Welcome to Middle East Live. Here's a summary of the latest developments. | 8.55am: Good morning. Welcome to Middle East Live. Here's a summary of the latest developments. |
| Bahrain | Bahrain |
| • The Formula One grand prix took place without incident but the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights accused the regime of suppressing peaceful protests and arresting activists, including eight female protesters who got inside the Bahrain international circuit and tried to hold a demonstration after the race had finished. The BCHR reported witnesses saying the women were beaten up. It also claimed an Indian man died of suffocation from teargas. | • The Formula One grand prix took place without incident but the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights accused the regime of suppressing peaceful protests and arresting activists, including eight female protesters who got inside the Bahrain international circuit and tried to hold a demonstration after the race had finished. The BCHR reported witnesses saying the women were beaten up. It also claimed an Indian man died of suffocation from teargas. |
| • A Channel 4 News team led by foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller were arrested by Bahraini authorities on Sunday along with their driver and Ala'a Shehabi, an activist who met with Bernie Ecclestone earlier this year to try to persuade him to cancel the Bahrain GP. The Channel 4 team were eventually released and deported. | • A Channel 4 News team led by foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller were arrested by Bahraini authorities on Sunday along with their driver and Ala'a Shehabi, an activist who met with Bernie Ecclestone earlier this year to try to persuade him to cancel the Bahrain GP. The Channel 4 team were eventually released and deported. |
| • Leading opposition activist, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike for 75 days, leading his family and human rights groups to fear for his life, must wait until 30 April for his appeal against his life sentence to be heard. Twenty other activists also jailed for life for their part in the uprising against the western-backed Sunni monarchy must also wait until 30 April, a defence lawyer said. Bahrain officials insist al-Khawaja is in good health. | • Leading opposition activist, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, who has been on hunger strike for 75 days, leading his family and human rights groups to fear for his life, must wait until 30 April for his appeal against his life sentence to be heard. Twenty other activists also jailed for life for their part in the uprising against the western-backed Sunni monarchy must also wait until 30 April, a defence lawyer said. Bahrain officials insist al-Khawaja is in good health. |
| Syria | Syria |
| • The deployment of UN truce monitors brought a lull in shelling of the opposition stronghold of Homs for a second day on Sunday, AP reported. President Bashar al-Assad's troops kept up heavy attacks on other areas where observers were not present, according to activists. And there were still six deaths reported in Homs by the British-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights - three of them in gunfire during raids in search of fugitives in farms near the town of Talbiseh and three in gunbattles in the Khaldiyeh and Ghouta districts of Homs. | • The deployment of UN truce monitors brought a lull in shelling of the opposition stronghold of Homs for a second day on Sunday, AP reported. President Bashar al-Assad's troops kept up heavy attacks on other areas where observers were not present, according to activists. And there were still six deaths reported in Homs by the British-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights - three of them in gunfire during raids in search of fugitives in farms near the town of Talbiseh and three in gunbattles in the Khaldiyeh and Ghouta districts of Homs. |
| • International envoy Kofi Annan expressed hope that despite continued violations of the cease-fire he brokered, an expanded team of up to 300 observers up from eight now on the ground can help end 13 months of violence and lead to talks between Assad and the opposition. | • International envoy Kofi Annan expressed hope that despite continued violations of the cease-fire he brokered, an expanded team of up to 300 observers up from eight now on the ground can help end 13 months of violence and lead to talks between Assad and the opposition. |
| • Syrian soldiers stormed the Damascus suburb of Douma on Sunday, and rebels bombed a military convoy in Aleppo, in the north of the country, according to activists. | • Syrian soldiers stormed the Damascus suburb of Douma on Sunday, and rebels bombed a military convoy in Aleppo, in the north of the country, according to activists. |
| "This U.N. observers thing is a big joke," said activist Mohammed Saeed in Douma. "Shelling stops and tanks are hidden when they visit somewhere, and when they leave, shelling resumes." He said Douma was attacked on Sunday by government troops firing artillery and machine guns and loud explosions shook the city early, causing panic among residents. Some used mosque loudspeakers to urge people to take cover in basements and in lower floors of apartment buildings. On the government side, four soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit an armoured personnel carrier in Douma, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said. | "This U.N. observers thing is a big joke," said activist Mohammed Saeed in Douma. "Shelling stops and tanks are hidden when they visit somewhere, and when they leave, shelling resumes." He said Douma was attacked on Sunday by government troops firing artillery and machine guns and loud explosions shook the city early, causing panic among residents. Some used mosque loudspeakers to urge people to take cover in basements and in lower floors of apartment buildings. On the government side, four soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb hit an armoured personnel carrier in Douma, the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights said. |
| Egypt | Egypt |
| • Egypt has terminated its contract to ship gas to Israel, which was negotiated under the ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak. Aiming to avoid further damage to its troubled ties with Cairo, Israel said on Monday it saw the termination as part of a business rather than a diplomatic dispute. Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israeli radio stations the cancellation of the deal was "not a good sign," but added "We want to understand this as a trade dispute. I think that to turn a business dispute into a diplomatic dispute would be a mistake." | • Egypt has terminated its contract to ship gas to Israel, which was negotiated under the ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak. Aiming to avoid further damage to its troubled ties with Cairo, Israel said on Monday it saw the termination as part of a business rather than a diplomatic dispute. Foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman told Israeli radio stations the cancellation of the deal was "not a good sign," but added "We want to understand this as a trade dispute. I think that to turn a business dispute into a diplomatic dispute would be a mistake." |