THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Crown Prince of Bahrain, who refused an invitation to the royal wedding, has been politically sidelined by a hardline trio of senior royal advisers.Although his invitation was criticised as rewarding a "tyrant", Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa was seen until recently as a reformist.
He had won key battles for influence over his father King Hamad over a conservative faction at court that vehemently opposed to political reform.
But last month the powerful prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman, along with the two powerful brothers who run the military and the royal court's apparatus insisted on a crackdown backed by neighbouring Saudi Arabia.
"The Crown Prince should not be seen as someone who is representative of ongoing events in Bahrain today," said Theodore Karasik, of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.
"The Crown Prince was trying to broker a deal between the ruling family and the opposition and a lot of the reason the Saudis came in was to try to resolve disputes within the al-Khalifa family itself over this attempt by the Crown Prince." » | Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent | Monday, April 25, 2011
