Bahrain opposition to hold pro-democracy protest

Source: The Peninsula Qatar (Read full story)

Bahrain’s main opposition will hold a day of pro-democracy protests today despite a crackdown last week in which police used teargas and birdshot to disperse anti-government demonstrations. A statement issued by Bahrain’s largest opposition group, the Islamist al Wefaq Society, said that protests would continue to be held until the Bahraini people’s demands were met. “The demonstrations are to insist on a right that is clear and legitimate for the Bahraini people to move towards democratic transformation,” the statement said on Thursday. A tiny island state that hosts the US Fifth Fleet as a bulwark for US-aligned Gulf monarchies against Iran, Bahrain has suffered bouts of unrest since February 2011 when a Shi’ite-led uprising demanded the Al Khalifa dynasty give up power.

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Yemen government apologizes for wars waged by ex-president

Source: The Saudi Gazette (Read full story)

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The statement said the apology was required under a deal brokered by Gulf states that paved the way for Saleh to step down in 2011 after months of unrest and hand the reins of power to his deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi. Fahmy Al-Saqaf, a leader in the southern secessionist Herak movement, said the apology, though long overdue, was an important step. “But what is more important is what comes after the apology, and what we fear is that the (reconciliation) dialogue ends without implementing southern demands,” Saqaf said. Herak representatives recently suspended their participation in the reconciliation talks, demanding that the government make good on promises to restore seized property and return sacked state employees to their jobs.

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Gulf bloc slams Hizbollah move to double fighters in Syria

Source: The National (Read full story)

Arabian Gulf countries yesterday criticised Hizbollah for interfering in Syrian affairs after the chief of the Lebanese militant group vowed to double the number of fighters he sends in support of Bashar Al Assad’s regime. The statement comes amid growing fears that the Syrian conflict could threaten the stability of Lebanon, Iraq and Jordan. “Nasrallah continues to boast about the participation of his militia in slaughtering children, women and innocent Syrians, and destroying their towns and property,” said Abdullatif Al Zayani, secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), in a statement.

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We will cover cuts in Egypt aid: Saud

Source: The Saudi Gazette (Read full story)

The Kingdom said on Monday that Arab and Islamic countries will step in to help Egypt if Western nations cut aid packages to Cairo. “To those who have announced they are cutting their aid to Egypt, or threatening to do that, (we say that) Arab and Muslim nations are rich with resources, and will not hesitate to help Egypt,” Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said in a statement carried by the Saudi Press Agency. Prince Saud was speaking upon his return from France where he met President Francois Hollande to discuss the current situation in Egypt. Prince Saud said that the countries which slammed Egypt’s crackdown believed propaganda and assumed hostile positions toward the interests and the stability of Arab and Islamic nations.

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18 foreign oil firms qualified to bid for 20 blocks in Yemen

Source: The Peninsula Qatar (Read full story)

Yemen has allowed 18 international oil firms to bid for 20 onshore and offshore blocks in the sixth auction issued by the Oil Ministry, the state news agency Saba said yesterday. Saba quoted Ahmed Dares, Yemen’s oil minister, as saying that 45 foreign firms had presented applications to bid for the blocks, of which nine are onshore and 11 offshore. Of the 45, only 18 had qualified to bid. The auction aims to increase Yemen’s oil and gas output through foreign investment, Dares was quoted as saying.  The 18 firms include Hunt Oil and Gas, Norway’s DNO, Circle Oil, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec), Pakistan Oilfields and Dana Gas.  The list also includes France’s Total, the Austrian oil and gas group OMV, UAE-based Crescent Petroleum, and Pakistan Petroleum.

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Egyptians in Qatar concerned but divided over crackdown

Source: The Peninsula (Read full story)

Egyptian expatriates in Qatar, while obviously unhappy about what is happening back home, say they expect the situation to become clearer today as the Muslim Brotherhood has called for protests after Friday prayers all over the country. “We have to see how people react after Friday prayers today to Wednesday’s military action that saw hundreds of people killed and many others injured,” said an Egyptian, requesting anonymity. He said he didn’t anticipate further violence as both sides, the army and the Brotherhood, should now take defensive positions after Wednesday’s bloodbath.

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‘Al-Douri apologized to former premier for Iraqi Invasion’

Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)

Kuwait’s former prime minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah received an official apology from a senior Ba’ath Party figure for the Iraqi invasion to Kuwait on August 2, 1990, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported yesterday quoting an Iraqi lawmaker. Furthermore, MP Hassan Al-Alawi, himself a former Ba’athist who defected from the group before former President Saddam Hussein assumed power, claimed possession of ‘secrets regarding the Iraqi – Kuwaiti relationship’ which he said could lead to “catastrophic results” if exposed.

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Kuwait pulls cleric off TV for sectarian comments

Source: Kuwait Times (Read full story)

Kuwait’s government officials yesterday pulled a prominent cleric off television over previous comments they say stoked sectarian tensions and promoted an Al-Qaeda-linked rebel group in Syria. Shafi Al-Ajmi’s show, “Following the Path of the Prophet,” premiered Monday on state television in Kuwait. Information Minister Salman Al-Homood said that the show had been cancelled and that an investigation had begun into determining those responsible for putting the cleric on the air.“The Ministry of Information does not approve of airing episodes for any individuals who instigates hatred and promotes such rhetoric,” Al-Homood told journalists.

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