THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: With 42 killed in Sanaa, regimes show they will keep power at any costA brutal counter-revolution is sweeping through the Arabian Peninsula as Bahrain and Yemen both declare war on reform movements and ferociously try to suppress them with armed force.
In Yemen police and snipers on rooftops opened fire on Friday on a mass demonstration outside the main university, killing at least 42 people. The government has since declared martial law and set up checkpoints throughout the capital, Sanaa.
In Bahrain repression began a few days earlier, when King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa called for military support from other Gulf monarchs and 1,000 troops from Saudi Arabia crossed into the island kingdom. "This was the green light for our army to kill people," says Ali Salman, the leader of al-Wefaq, the main opposition party.
As decisively as in Yemen the Bahraini al-Khalifa royal family has rejected reform and showed that it intends to hold power by armed force. Serried ranks of riot police advancing behind a cloud of tear gas and backed by armoured vehicles and helicopters cleared protesters from Pearl Square, which has been the gathering point for protesters. The 300ft-high monument commemorating the pearl fishers of the Gulf, a rallying point for protesters, has been torn down by the army. "It was a bad memory," said the Bahraini Foreign Minister, Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa.
"There are 80 people still missing that we don't know what happened to," said Mohammed al-Maskati, an opposition activist, in a telephone interview. He added that there was no information on the whereabouts of the seven reform leaders who have been detained, but they have been charged with "incitement to kill" and being in communication with a foreign power. Mr Maskati did not think there was much that the pro-democracy protesters could do in the face of the army and police.
"They have made clear that they will stop any demonstration by brute force," he said. He added that the opposition have called on people to go to the roofs of their houses between 4.30 and 5.30 pm and wave the red-and-white Bahraini flag. They were also asked to shout "God is great" at set times. » | Patrick Cockburn | Sunday, March 20, 2011
