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Monday 27 June 2011

Adel Flaifel to attend Bahrain’s “National Dialogue”





Only when Bahraini people thought that the political situation wouldn’t get any worse, the Government surprised everyone with a new stunt. It is now confirmed that the infamous torturer of Bahrain Adel Flaifel will be a participant in the national dialogue.

In early June The King of Bahrain Hamad Bin Isa alKhalifa called on a national dialogue, a step forward, the opposition initially welcomed with good intentions thinking that the Crown Prince, as the king mentioned previously, will be leading the dialogue. Observers, journalists, opposition parties and citizens were stunned to learn that MP Khalifa Aldehrani (Primary school drop out) is the person the king nominated to lead the table.

Adel Flaifel in brief:

·      The colonel served under the command of his master Ian Henderson.  He also was his personal interpreter.

·      In 1985 he tied 2 young Shia women to a pole in the police headquarters and was beating them insensible with his fists. Was even reported in the Western media.

·      He performed systematic torture the 90s unrest, Flaifel personally tortured opposition leaders such as Shiekh Abdul Ameer alJamri.

·      Recently, during the 14 February revolution, he was the only one who called publicly to arm Bahraini Sunnis to attack Shia. (Specifically- minute 3:09)

He was famous for being brutal and harsh against prisoners in 1994 when people were calling for the return of the 1973 constitution and the parliament that Sheikh Issa bin Salman alKhalifa dissolved in 1975. He was the man that no prisoner wanted to be interrogated by, he was proud of it.

He fled the country in early 2002 when he was was released from his duties in the police forces in connection with a “financial fraud” he committed. As a matter of fact, he ran away after pressure mounted from human rights organisations to bring him to justice. Bahrainis demanded trail for the torturer but in retun for his crimes King Hamad granted him amnesty in 2002.

Now he is a key participant in “shaping Bahrain’s future”. I personally consider this as an insult to every single Shia in Bahrain (over 70% of the population). Furthermore, it is alKhalifa way in humiliating the opposition who are considering participating in this dialogue. Mental image- Ali Salman sitting across Adel Flaifel. Horrible.

Why am I against this Dialogue:

Just look at this list of who is attending it! 

  • It stinks of betrayal- we experienced it first hand, over and over. Aljamri times when the king promised reforms, then again with the National Charter, then again in the Parliament. What makes this dialogue any different?
  • alKhalifa are not to be trusted- over the past 200 years they have never kept a promise. What makes this promise with "reforms" any difference?
  • If this was a genuine dialogue, how come there are no members of the ruling family? Our problem is with the ruling family, not with other group/sect of citizens. 
  • Moreover, if this was genuine, why the Saudi troops are still in their barracks in Bahrain? Shouldn't they just go back home?
  • Our sisters and brothers are in jail being tortured up until this moment. They are being fired from their jobs everyday. They are being tried before military courts till now.
  • Hassan Mushaime, Abdulwahab Hussain, Ibrahim Sharief, Adbulhadi Alkhawaja and co should be present on the table.
  • And last, the provocative move in including Falifel in this! 

Monday 20 June 2011

Bahrain Government is playing Poker, quite badly.


Now that July is near, I feel that there are some points we have to be clear about.

Right now in Bahrain some people are facing this dilemma that is tearing them apart. July 1st “Dialogue” while some don’t agree with it, others have shown interest, I emphasise, only interest.  Alwifaq did, under conditions.

While the government has set conditions for that dialogue- “we will have a dialogue under one condition, that the dialogue is unconditional.” Huh? I swear you just set a condition yourself.  Don’t get confused, that’s what the Government wants.

Anyways, lets not lose focus here, lets count how many cards the Government played so far:

1.  Sectarian card: They claim that this is not a revolution; it is rather an Iranian agenda to take over Bahrain using Shia. Oh wait, it gets better, they claim that America is part of it as well, supporting Shia.  [Ace]

2.  Media card: They have exploited the state owned BTV, daily press, members of parliament, ambassadors, business men and women and every possible soulless person to help in delivering the above (sectarian) message. [King]


3.  Work and education card: using the above means (Media) to identify protesters, they sacked them from their jobs, expelled them from schools and universities, they threatened their families, they even went as far as to ask other countries not to employ them, in case they fled Bahrain. [Ace]

4.  Marshal Law card: The Government introduced this “National Safety Law” in order for them to easily control village’s entrances and exits to crackdown any small protest. More importantly is to use it as an excuse to humiliate people in checkpoints and in prison. [Jack]

5.  Torture and imprisonment card: Jail in Bahrain is not a joke (been there, done that). The torture there isn’t a joke either. The police know that released prisoners talk about their experience (the near death). They intended releasing some people early to spread the message. Thinking that such traumatizing experience will hold people back from protesting to avoid it. [Ace]

6.  International PR card: Considering the fact that the Government has unlimited amount of cash, or even if they are a bit short- Saudi will pick up the bill. They have contracted firms around the world to help them keep things, as quite as possible and to send the message that what is happening in Bahrain is an Iranian/Hezbollah plan to destroy the country. [Queen]

Though, they have played their high cads already, Kings, Queens, Jacks and a couple of Aces, do not underestimate the 7 of hearts, especially when its coupled with other 2 suited cards. Indeed! Disuniting people, the 7 of clubs did work and Sunnis distanced themselves from their Shia brothers who chanted “Shia, Sunni we all brothers”

So what is the 7 of hearts then? Implementing simple strategy- bluff and bluff all the way. They are now trying to get Shia to fight each other, create a disagreement in regards to the national dialogue. Some Shia refuse it and some put conditions on it, no one welcomed the dialogue. It is not possible for this dialogue to be successful if citizens are still in jail getting tortured and humiliated. Furthermore over 1900 people are out of jobs with no income.

This is a message to the Bahraini people, do not fall in the trap. Keep the unity, our goals are the same, our struggle for freedom is still the same.


Wednesday 15 June 2011

Investigation- Bahrain Government is using the same technique, 15 years on.





Please note that this was hastily prepared, if you want to add any info please post a comment or email me. Special thanks to Chanad for helping in providing materials and references.  


Sunday, 18 February 1996 Robert Fisk wrote in the Independent “Briton at the heart of Bahrain's brutality rule” a great article describing the political situation (was not an uprising as such) back then. The article was a true reflection of torture and abuse in the Ministry of Interior led by the British mastermind Ian Henderson and his right hand Jordanian torturer Adel Fliefel.
Ironically, if you change some names around, you would think that you are reading an up-to-date article from the same author about the current uprising in Bahrain. Same style of torture, blackmailing, lies and human rights violations. This is however is not the ironic part.
3 days after Mr. Fisk wrote his article, on Wednesday, 21 February 1996, the same paper (The Independent) published a Letter: Open government in Bahrain from an ex-diplomat in Bahrain describing Fisk’s article as “unbalanced”. Mostly denying the content, or the scale of the content, published days earlier. The letter was from Mr. Huge Tunnell, former British Ambassador to Bahrain, 1992-1995.
When Mr. Tunnel returned to London after serving 3 years as Ambassador to Bahrain, he started up a company (consultancy)- HUGH TUNNELL ASSOCIATES LTD.. To me it was more like a Public Relations firm promoting joint ventures and promoting the Middle East for business. This is not surprising for an ex diplomat with huge influence and contacts in Bahrain, obviously with people of the same level- influential.

He, Mr. Tunnell tried to save Bahrain’s image in the west and the western media in particular, as it was of an interest to him. But most likely with the Bahraini Government help. So, just like 15 years ago, the royal family in Bahrain is using the same exact technique in paying large sums of money to western PR firms to polish their brutal crimes against the opposition. Below is a screen shot of the company register in the UK. 

Mr. Tunnell sadly died of a heart attack in April 2009 so lets forget him for a bit.

However in the same note and in another letter to the Independent 2 years later Abdul Aziz Mubarak Al Khalifa, a name we are very familiar with. Wrote his views about an article that was published by Fran Abrams days earlier. Yet again desperately trying to style out the human rights violations in Bahrain arguing that the island developed, educated and respecting religious views. Letter: Bahrain views This man has been trying and failing over and over to convince the western media that Bahrain is transparent. Funny enough, he is still trying up to today. Read Nic Robertson (from the CNN) tweets on Bahrain lately. My professor once told me “one time lucky, second maybe, three times then it’s a pattern”. God bless you Prof. Leslie Gadman, I did learn something from university after all.

Moving on from this subject. The Bahraini government yet again, 15 years on, claiming that the Shia protests back in 1996 was Iranian plan to overthrow the Sunni regime. Wednesday, 5 June 1996 an article Bahrain reveals plot for uprising by Adel Darwish for the Independent. As far as I can remember, they actually aired the suspects’ confessions on TV (Baba Apache style)

Indeed they were 44 and I found this article online- The Deseret News - Jun 6, 1996. Plotting to topple the regime. Why are we seeing all this similarities over and over as if it is happening today? The reason is, those alKhalifa never learn, Bedouin, do not understand. They think the world will still believe their lies. Or maybe they just need a new mastermind like Henderson to start fresh seeing as though that PR all around the world failed.



Don’t forget that back then; there was Sunni opposition as well who had their share of torture and imprisonment.  Fisk report “Ahmed al-Shamlan, the Bahraini lawyer and poet re-arrested by Henderson's men this month, is largely regarded as a supporter of this coalition, whose nationalist, secular credentials have spared it neither deportation nor harassment.” Today we have Ibrahim Sharif, Mohammed al-Buflasah and many others. The below article is about the 58 “Shia” who planned to topple the regime.


Update: Thanks to vAT017. The Government threw their old, or shall I say the renewable card.  "Loyalty" Look at this copy of Al-Ayam newspaper with this huge headline shortly after the "confessions" on TV. They are still doing it today. 


I still remember how I received Isa Qambar execution news from my older brother, he walked after prayer, very quite, very sad and whispered something in my mother’s ear (she was praying). She prayed for him first and then broke down in tears and told us while she was sobbing.  I didn’t know why he was executed, there was a story that he burnt a police vehicle with Molotov bomb and killed a policeman, other story that he burnt a shop and killed the Asian shopkeeper and another story he bombed an electricity station in Sitra. The same exact story is happening now. We saw one man Martyr Ali Sager confessing that he ran over a police man, but when? After he was tortured to death, he was not viable for the regime so they framed five other people instead.  How many people does it take to run over 1 person? At least back in the 90s they only framed one person. (Associated Press) reported it.


This is another piece of news on Isa Qambar execution from Daily News - Mar 26, 1996.


Robert Fisk continues his investigations and publishes another article on Monday, 19 February 1996 Prince's police strike terror into opposition On the same note, and just as history repeats itself, back in 1995 Saeid al-Eskafi died under torture in Al-Khamees police station in June 6. He was 16 years old. Not long ago, January 4, Hussain Qambar died in police custody as well. 16 other reported being sexually assaulted in while in prison.  Today we are witnessing an identical situation. Martyr Abdul Karem Fakhrawi and Martyr Ali Sager died under the same circumstances; torture signs were clearly visible on their bodies when their families received them. Their families received the same threats of not exposing their bodies to anyone and not to mention their death to the media, or else.

The oppressive regime had supporters, mostly bribed with money and promises of lands, positions etc. However the Bahraini people had supporters who stood against the oppressors back then and spoke out. In the media we had Mr. Fisk, who by the way, is being sued along with his newspaper (The Independent) by the Bahraini Government for “biased coverage”- Government words, not mine. I found this matter quite hilarious. How tedious can you be to sue a newspaper for simply reporting what they witnessed? Fisk met the exiled opposition leaders in Damascus and wrote on Saturday, 17 February 1996  Bahraini exiles tell of torture and abuse they should have probably sued him then. This article had even more sickening stories than what we hear today. Read what Sayed Hisham al-Moussawi told him about his arrests. He was tortured, molested and they beat his wife in front of him! How terrible. By the same people, British Ian Henderson, Jordanian Adel Flifel, Jordanian al-Akori and Pakistani Aziz Sugager. Mercenaries. He mentioned the government imprisoning him in the 80s for the same reason they imprison people now- connection with Iran.

Another supporter was within the British Government, George Galloway MP. Spoke in the Houses of Parliament in great details on June 3, 1997 he said one of the best sentences I have ever heard about about Bahrain “Bahrain became the first country in the world to deport its own citizens and demand that other countries refuse to give them asylum.” Referring to both Sheikhs Hamza al-Dairi and Sayed Haidar al-Sitri when they arrived in London. Galloway speech in the parliament in 1997 Like father like son. King Hamad and his government have asked Kuwait to deny Bahrianis employment if they arrive there.  Mr. Galloway is still a supporters of the uprising in Bahrain have participated in rallies and demonstration in front of the Bahraini and the Saudi embassies in London.

Reading the news from the 90s doesn’t bring memories; it is rather the same as reading the news today. Look at the same exact similarities:

  •   Government claiming Iranian intervention in Bahrain’s security.
  •  Televised false confessions from respected and well known personalities
  • Torture and human rights violation
  • Executions for killing a policeman
  • The use of failed PR to preserve the “business friendly” image of Bahrain


The only difference now is that we have the Internet and news travel so much easier, which consequently makes it easier for us to expose the regime’s lies to the world.

I just wonder, if Fisk and the Independent are the enemies of the state now, how long till the Bahraini government starts to sue Nick Kristoff and the New York Times. They might even go beyond and sue The Associated Press, Reuters and every single media source that doesn’t write what they want to read!

Here, Richard Hall writes today  Bahrain 'to sue over Independent reporting' what an embarrassing Government. 


Monday 13 June 2011

Short Poem

ان ايات بلادي ان ايات الشعوب

اننا شعب كريم نرفض احكام العتوب

نابى ذلا يا خليفه ترفض الياس القلوب

نفرش البحرين وردا قرمزيا في الدروب

By Murtadha alHashemi, London. To A Cookie blog

Bahrain: News round up

Start with the amazing Patrick Cockburn from the British Independent Poet who became symbol of Bahrain resistance is jailed


The Author interviewed Ayat's brother Yousif over the phone who informed him that Ayat is not receiving as much torture as she used to and authorities are treating her a little better than before. This however doesnt mean that she is not getting tortured or humiliated anymore. Her lawyer was not allowed to present his argument or speak in her defence in court yesterday, he however submitted a formal appeal against the one year sentence. The Author then goes to mention the huge turn up for Alwifaq organised event "Everyone's Homeland" and the challenging speech by Sheikh Ali Salman. The revelotuion, simply, can not be crushed by fear. [End]

The Guardian had an article as well about Ayat Bahrain student jailed for year over protest poems


From the Associated Press the paper explored how poetry is a powerful tool in the Arab world, Ayat cries to the King to step down have been rewarded with torture and imprisonment. The 30% minority Sunni rulers supported by their closest allies Saudi (who helped crushed the protesters in March) have tightened the grip on Shia and showing no signs in backing off claiming that Shitte majority are backed by Iran. Yet Shitte showed no signs of backing off either as over 10,000 people gathered in Saar answering Alwifaq calls. [End]

Both article had comment about the US interest in Bahrain and the importance of dialogue in stabilising the the country that host the US 5th Fleet

The Washington Post had this article Tribunal sends Bahrain protester to prison

The same article from the Associated Press shows how Ayat became a celebrity in Bahrain for her revlutionary poem she recited back in March. She was sentenced to one year in jail for "anti-state charges, including inciting hatred, the official Bahrain News Agency reported". [End]

I personally read, listen (over and over) to her poems, i failed to feel the hatred, it was rather funny at some stage. If you want a real hate preaching then look at this guy Abu Hamza al-Masri

So many newspaper around the world wrote about Ayat, most of them had the story from the Associated Press (AP) only Cockburn was origional. 



Saturday 11 June 2011

Today's Bahrain news wrapped up


Will start with the leading Independent- 

Patrick Cockburn yet again writing about Ayat al-Gormozi! This senior news editor has been very busy lately with Arab spring. Today he writes Detained poet 'beaten across the face with electric cable'

Interviewing Ayat's mother over the phone he was informed, in graphic detail, about the horrific treatment her 20 year old daughter has to endure during her imprisonment since March 30th. the brutal account detailed, amongst many, how she was beaten across the face with electric cables, kept in a tiny solitary confinement cell where the air conditioning was on constant full power and that she was being completely isolated from any of the other prisoners. Moreover, and aside from the psychological abuse she endures on a daily basis, she gets forced to clean the police officers toilets, cells and corridors with her bare hands.

Another article in the Independent today was from Kate Allen the director of Amnesty International UK. She writes Kate Allen: A warped response to calls for democracy

She talks about both the medical staff and Ayat and about the torture they suffer in prison, simply for taking to the streets in peaceful protest and demanding their rights. They are forced to sign false confessions after which they are filmed "admitting" these in front of the camera. She mentions reports by Amnesty International which focus on the situation in Bahrain and emphasises the lack of thorough independent investigations. 

Reuters have the story about the Kuwaiti Nasser Abul who was arrested for simly sympathising with Bahraini people. Kuwait arrests man over Twitter posts - source

Kuwait authorities arrested the man over his Twitter activities, specifically in regards to a pictures he posted of Martyr Sager showing torture signs on his body. So far there are no charges pressed against him. Reuters explains the close relationship between the two ruling families in Bahrain and Kuwait. 

France24 reports on Bernie Ecclestone made a last-ditch desperatly trying to save the prestigious Formula 1 in Bahrain Formula One boss in last-ditch Bahrain bid: FIA

Adding another twist to the ongoing debate, Ecclestone proposes to move the race date to December after rather than October. However the FIA still need guarantees that Bahrain is safe to host the event, which in my opinion is impossible with quarter of the BIC staff detained or sacked. 

Last but not least is a video [The Telegraph] of Bahrain police tear gas unarmed protesters

Video purported to show Bahrain security forces firing tear gas at unarmed civilians has been posted online.

Which says it all. 

Friday 10 June 2011

Enough with Beta, lets get the real deal

So you are playing Call of Duty Black Ops or Halo, doing great, owning like there is no tomorrow and then you want to brag about it to your friends. Dont worry, you can! Go to the theatre and invite your friend to watch the game, but what is your friend is on PS3 or vice versa? The answer is "No sorry" you can show them 15 second clip that you can record from the theatre to your Youtube channel but not the entire game.

Rubbish! 
Well, you can buy yourself a recorder, which is not a bad idea. I am considering one..

But I am just thinking, if the theatre is there with capability to record games then why not just use its full ability? Beta in Black Ops is just annoying! I tested it sometime ago and have some videos in my Youtube channel. I will leave you with one *bragging* *now*



 Team death! 15 seconds rampage! Enjoy!

Bahrain: Names you shouldnt forget

1953 The Cuban Revolution- Che Guevara 

He was Argentinian, not Cuban. Although he was not the leader of the revolution, his name is still printed in every memory. He didnt fight as much either, Fidel Castro was the field leader and Che received orders from him. 

1977 The Iranian Revolution- Imam Khomeini

He was in exile during the revolt that started years earlier, he lectured in Najaf and in Paris. Iranians listened to every word he said. Yet again, he didnt fight in the field though he lost his son in the uprising. 

2011 The Tunisian Revolution- Mohammed Bouazizi

This young man didnt even see the fight, he set himself on fire in the late 2010 and was the spark for the whole country to hit the street in mass demonstrations. The revolution succeeded and his lived again. 

Those courageous revolutionaries have done very little in comparison to those who died freeing their countries, but they will never be forgotten! Bahrain should be no difference...

2011 Bahrain- Ayat alGhormozi, Mohammed alBuflasah

Young and talented girl, she showed great courage to stand on the stage and publicly criticise  the prime minister Khalifa Bin Salman in a poem (half of Bahrain can recite it off by heart). 

He, alBuflasah is different story! He shut every mouth that accused the revolution of being sectarian with foreign agenda and he was the very first prisoner shortly after he stepped down from the stage. 

Your names should be written in gold, engraved in every honest heart in Bahrain. I salute both of you!