US WORRIED OVER SECURITY FOR FLEET IN BAHRAIN….AND RUSSIA HELPS KUWAIT GET NUKES…..SUCH GOOD ALLIES THOSE SHEIKS
http://www.geostrategy-direct.com/geostrategy-direct/…….
SUBSCRIBERS ONLY
U.S. worried over Shi’ite unrest in host port for Fifth Fleet
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is closely monitoring Bahrain’s crackdown against the Shi’ite opposition.
Analysts and diplomats said the Gulf Cooperation Council kingdom was facing increasing resistance from Shi’ite elements linked to neighboring Iran.
“The street violence and other incidents are of particular concern to the United States because Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet and Naval Forces Central Command, whose mission is to ‘deter and counter disruptive countries’ — a wording likely aimed at Iran, which claimed the island as its territory prior to 1970,” Simon Henderson, a leading analyst on the Gulf, said.
Henderson, a senior fellow with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, cited the arrest of hundreds of Shi’ite opposition members in Bahrain in August and September 2010. He said the arrests were meant to stop a Shi’ite opposition victory in parliamentary and municipal elections on Oct. 23.
The State Department and the U.S. military have lowered their profile in Bahrain during the rising unrest. The U.S. embassy has warned Americans against attending demonstrations or walking through central Manama.
The rising violence in Bahrain has been attributed partly to the kingdom’s pro-Sunni policy. The analysts said Bahrain, located 230 kilometers from Iran, has shunned its Shi’ite majority while encouraging Sunnis from Iraq and Syria to settle in the GCC state and work in security.
“The government seems to regard them as untrustworthy, excluding them from military and police recruitment efforts,” the institute in a report titled “Iran’s Shadow over Unrest in Bahrain,” said. “Shi’ites are particularly resentful over the alleged hiring of security forces from abroad, who tend to deal with demonstrators more harshly than native Bahrainis might. These foreign Sunni recruits are also fast-tracked for citizenship, reducing the numerical dominance of Bahraini Shi’ites.”
Most GCC states were said to support Bahrain’s crackdown on the Shi’ites. The analysts and officials cited Saudi Arabia, which has been concerned over its own restive Shi’ite minority in the oil-rich Eastern Province. In contrast, Qatar has withheld support from Manama.
The U.S. Navy, which faced severe anti-American violence in 2002 and 2003, has been expanding its presence in Bahrain. The presence included the expansion of the navy’s Fifth Fleet outside Manama, a host for Western military aircraft and other regional missions.
“Because Washington’s main regional concern is persuading Iran to give up its nuclear weapon ambitions, working with Gulf allies such as Bahrain remains a priority,” the report said. “Given the current unrest and past outbursts of violent anti-American protests Washington should not take Bahrain’s usual tranquility for granted. Going forward, it should offer quiet advice to help Manama calm the ongoing tension and avoid escalation. After all, the latter scenario could turn the island’s concerns about Iranian interference into a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Moscow and Abu Dhabi sign MOU for nuclear reactor
ABU DHABI — Kuwait and Russia have signed a nuclear cooperation agreement.
Moscow and Abu Dhabi signed a memorandum of intent to cooperate in the area of nuclear energy. The Sept. 20 agreement was meant to pave the way for any Russian sale of a nuclear energy reactor to the Gulf Cooperation Council state.
“We in Russia are developing the atomic energy sector on a wide scale and we welcome Kuwait’s plans to develop it, too,” Sergei Kiriyenko, director of Russia’s state-owned nuclear corporation Rosatom, said.
The memorandum said the Kremlin would examine the prospect of cooperating with Kuwait in a range of nuclear issues. Officials cited nuclear medicine, uranium enrichment and the design of a reactor.
Kuwait has already signed nuclear agreements with other countries, including France. The sheikdom has been one of at least four GCC states that were preparing nuclear programs in wake of Iran’s refusal to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
For his part, Kiriyenko said Rosatom has deemed Kuwait as a viable nuclear partner. He did not elaborate.
Comments are closed.
