Bahrain abolishes information ministry 10, July 2010
Posted by davidbroberts in Al-Jazeera, Bahrain.Tags: Abolishing ministry of information, Al-Jazeera, Bahrain Ministry of Information, Ministry of Information, Qatar ministry of information
2 comments
Bahrain has announced that it is abolishing its information ministry. Ordinarily, this is a good sign of loosening of press censorship.
Qatar, for example, used the abolition of its information ministry in 1995 to signal a shift in the country’s view of news coverage. Along with the foundation of Al Jazeera, this act was widely seen as Qatar eschewing a staid, authoritarian mindset and entering the twenty-first century. True, Qatar’s domestic press is tame and decidedly uninvestigative, but at least Qatar has some mostly free media in the country.
Indeed, this relatively free media – Al Jazeera – recently ran a story on poverty in Bahrain which prompted their expulsion from Manama. This is hardly an auspicious omen coming in the weeks before it decides to get rid of its information ministry. So, unless there has been some paradigm shift in attitudes in Bahrain – which there hasn’t – this abolition, like in the UAE and to a lesser extent in Qatar, is more of a PR change than a real signal of changing attitudes to press censorship.
Qatar Bahrain bridge ‘on hold’ 7, June 2010
Posted by davidbroberts in Bahrain, Qatar.Tags: Bahrain bridge, GCC infrastructure, Qatar Bahrain bridge, Qatar bridge, Qatar economy
add a comment
In a move that will come as a surprise to absolutely no-one, the ‘friendship’ bridge set to link Qatar and Bahrain has been put on hold.
The project has been dogged with issues, delays and squabbles from the very start. In light of recent ‘fraternal issues’ between the two states, it was inevitable that the project would be put on hold. With Bahrain’s finances relying ever more on real-world economics, more and more of the burden of the cost of the bridge is believed to be falling in Qatar – safe, secure and cocooned in their rentier built economy, yet still begrudging to pay so much.
Bahrain backs down over GCC nomination 31, May 2010
Posted by davidbroberts in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia.Tags: Bahrain, Bahrain Qatar dispute, GCC Secretary General, Qatar, Saudi mediation
add a comment
Bahrain backed down and has not nominated Muhammed Al Mutawa as the new Secretary General of the GCC. Hid nomination was widely seen as one of the key precipitants of recent problems between Qatar and Bahrain. Qatar strenuously objected to the nomination of Al Mutawa as he was prominent and vocal in advancing Bahrain’s case against Qatar to the ICJ over the border dispute. Although the dispute was resolved some years ago, Qatar could not brook the idea of him as the next Secretary General.
Instead Bahrain has nominated Abdul Lateef Bin Rashid Al Zayani. This change came at the behest of Saudi King Abdullah who sought to mediate between the two countries. Given Bahrain’s political and economic position, they are in no position to refuse an request such as this from the Saudi King.
Al Jazeera’s contentious ‘poverty in Bahrain’ reports 28, May 2010
Posted by davidbroberts in Al-Jazeera, Bahrain, Qatar.Tags: Al Jazeera poverty report, Al-Jazeera, Poverty in Bahrain report, Qatar Bahrain problems
add a comment
Here are the contentious Al Jazeera videos on poverty in Bahrain that some say is the cause of the recent Qatari-Bahraini issues.
Saudis to mediate between Bahrain and Qatar 28, May 2010
Posted by davidbroberts in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia.Tags: Bahraini fisherman captured, Destrotyed coral reef, Qatar Bahrain dispute, Saudi mediation, Saudi to mediate Qatar Bahrain dispute
add a comment
Saudi Arabia is set to mediate between Qatar and Bahrain over the Bahraini nomination for GCC Secretary General. The rotating position which is Bahrain’s to fill this time around may well be the core issue of recent Qatari Bahraini disputes. Mohammed Al Mutawa is the former Bahraini information minister. Qatar seem to have a healthy dislike of him because of his role as head of publicity in the ICJ Qatar-Bahrain border dispute.
One must wonder whether Saudi will be as subtle as the last time they mediated between Qatar and Bahrain. Then, if I am remembering my facts correctly, there was some territorial issue over a coral reef/island that was part submerged part of the time. Nevertheless, as is the way with these things, this reef assumed bizarre importance. The Saudi solution? Quite literally bulldoze the reef into the sea; destroy it…et voila…no more issue. Effective, I suppose.
The Gulf’s first sex shop 27, May 2010
Posted by davidbroberts in Bahrain.Tags: Gulf sex shop, Muslim sex shop, Sex shop, Sex shop Bahrain
2 comments
A (rather brave) Bahraini woman has opened the Gulf’s first sex shop. Khadija Ahmed is adamant that she is performing a public duty and is saving people’s marriages by spicing up things in the bedroom.
She has fallen afoul of the law, however, after insulting a customs official as she was importing some of her sex aids and games. What a truly pathetic man that must have been to prosecute someone because he was offended. Obviously enough customs are less than thrilled with the products that she is importing (though I bet most of are desperately curious to visit her shop).
This comes not long after an entrepreneurial Muslim opened a sex shop in Amsterdam
US announce expansion of Bahrain navy base (again) 27, May 2010
Posted by davidbroberts in American ME Relations, Bahrain.Tags: US Navy, Bahrain, US Navy Bahrain, Bahrain port expansion
add a comment
The US Navy is to spend nearly $600 million upgrading and expanding their navy base in Bahrain. Whilst part of this was announced some time ago, it appears that this is yet another expansion of port facilities. Clearly, they are not planning to go anywhere anytime soon.
(Incidentally, is that not the most ridiculous picture? I can almost see the incredulity on the faces of the Bahraini royals “You want ME to pick up a SHOVEL??” I bet they were chauffeured home as quickly as possible so their servants could give their hands a thorough – yet gentle – scrubbing…)
On the Qatar Bahrain naval skirmish 25, May 2010
Posted by davidbroberts in Bahrain, Qatar.Tags: Bahrain, Fishing skirmish, Gulf naval skirmish, Qatar, Qatar Bahrain skirmish
add a comment
A few more scraps of information regarding the Bahrain-Qatar skirmish:
- The GCC are discussing a system that would allow each member state to fish within each other’s boundaries, reinforcing the idea that it was just a fishing-border demarcation incident
- Manama said that Doha is still holding 106 Bahraini fisherman
- Qatar downgraded its representation at a Bahraini Petrochemical conference
- This incident where the Qataris shot a Bahraini fisherman comes less than a year after a Qatari coastguard boat rammed a Bahraini boat over, I believe, similar issues
- The Bahraini Foreign Minister (rightly) said that the Qatari coastguard ought to have shot at, for example, the ship’s engines and not the sailors
- Qatar initially dropped all charges against the sailor that it shot and his crew but later changed their minds. They also refused to let a Bahraini medical crew visit him.
Update:
Qatar has released 9 Bahrainis who had been held over the recent trespassing incident.
The (unusually informative) article in the Gulf News also pointed out a latent issue between Qatar and Bahrain being Qatar’s refusal to acquiesce to the appointing of Mohammad Al Mutawa, Bahrain’s former information minister, as rotating GCC Secretary General. Although it is Bahrain’s turn to appoint the post, Qatar are apparently angry over Mutawa’s stance over the now settled border ICJ conclusion between the two countries.
Bahrain bans Al Jazeera 19, May 2010
Posted by davidbroberts in Bahrain, Qatar.Tags: Al Jazeera banned, Al Jazeera office closed, Al-Jazeera, Bahrain ban Al Jazeera, Bahrain Qatar naval incident, Qatar
2 comments
The Bahraini Government has, according to Arabian Business, banned Al Jazeera from operating in the Kingdom. Their offices have been closed by Bahraini police for “breaching professional media norms and flouting press and publishing regulations.” Whilst it is unclear what the precipitant of this draconian action was, an educated guess could be Al Jazeera’s coverage of the Qatari-Bahraini naval spat last week where the Qatari coastguard opened fire on Bahraini boats encroaching on Qatar’s territory. During a similar incident between Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia last month, no regional media covered the story for all too apparent reasons.
This kind of spat is not unusual. Since Al Jazeera’s founding in the mid-1990s every Arab country has launched a complaint at one point or another, withdrawn their Ambassador or closed the local office over Al Jazeera’s temerity to actually tell people what is happening in their country. Currently, for example, Al Jazeera’s office in Tunisia is – I believe – still closed. Moreover, Al Jazeera’s coverage of Saudi Arabia led to Riyadh withdrawing their Ambassador for 4 years until an agreement was reached in 2007, widely thought to have included some kind of mandate on Al Jazeera to ‘tone down’ its coverage of KSA. Today, for example, I have been told that all editorial decisions regarding GCC politics must go up the chain of command to the senior editors and managers to avoid just this kind of incident.
Overall, relations between Bahrain and Qatar are good. Their long-running border dispute was settled by the ICJ in 2001 and Bahrain supporting the counter coup against the current Emir in the mid-1990s is considered ancient history. Indeed, there will soon(ish) be a train line linking Bahrain to Qatar, something that will have an interesting effect, I think, on the demography of Qatar and Bahrain, with Qatar being far and away the richer partner.
Update:
Al Jazeera have suggested that the reason for the ban might be a report on poverty in Bahrain that they recently aired.
Bloomberg suggest that it perhaps has more to do with Bahrain wanting increased rent from Qatar for use of the Hawar islands which the ICJ ruling gave to Bahrain.
Qatari navy fire on Bahraini boats 14, May 2010
Posted by davidbroberts in Bahrain, Qatar.Tags: Bahrain sailor injured, Naval Skirmish, Qatar navy, Qatari navy attack
1 comment so far
Earlier this month Qatari coastguards opened fire on a Bahraini boat that entered Qatari territorial waters. One Bahraini sailor was injured. Although the article in the Gulf News is typically unclear, it appears as if this is an incident of Qataris zealously protecting their fishing rights as opposed to any other security related issues.
It is interesting, however, coming but a few months after a wholly ignored naval spat between Saudi Arabia and Naval forces from Abu Dhabi.
