Category Archives: Bahrain

Man climbs Bahrain embassy in London to protest against executions – video

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A rooftop protest against three executions carried out by Bahrain was held at the country's embassy in London by activists from the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. Police said they arrested one person for trespassing on a diplomatic premises. International rights groups including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a UN human rights expert had urged Bahrain to halt the executions on the basis that confessions were allegedly obtained through torture

Bahrain executes three people, despite human rights outcry

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Bahrain executes three people, despite human rights outcry

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Human rights groups had warned against the executions, calling them ‘utterly shameful”

Bahrain has executed three people convicted in two separate cases, one a case of “terrorism” and killing a police officer, and the second related to the killing of a mosque imam, the public prosecutor has said.

Human rights groups had been warning against the execution of two men, Ali Mohamed Hakeem al-Arab and Ahmed Isa Ahmed Isa al-Malali.

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Bahrain urged to halt imminent execution of two men

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UN official issues last-minute appeal amid reports pair may be executed in next 24 hours

A last-minute appeal to stop the imminent execution of two men in Bahrain has been issued by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Agnès Callamard, as pressure mounts on the country’s king to revoke the death sentences.

Ali Mohamed Hakeem al-Arab and Ahmed Isa Ahmed Isa al-Malali may be executed in the next 24 hours, according to human rights groups.

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Jared Kushner’s ‘deal of the century’ fails to materialise in Bahrain

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Senior adviser to Trump found no interest in his proposals for ending Israel/Palestine conflict

In the end, the ‘deal of the century’ was little more than a failed clearance sale. Jared Kushner arrived in Bahrain touting bedrock principles at untenable discounts. And even then there were no buyers.

The conference that was supposed to offer a new way out of the malaise of the Israel/Palestine conflict provided little of the sort. Its central premise of prosperity as a precursor to a lasting solution barely appeared to register on either side of the separation wall.

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Phase one of US Middle East peace plan greeted with scepticism

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No Israelis or Palestinians present for launch of plan that shreds decades of diplomacy

The first phase of the Trump administration’s long-awaited peace plan for Israel and Palestine has been rolled out to scepticism, anger and outright derision.

A conference hall of regional officials – with no Israelis or Palestinians present – was the first to hear details of the US-brokered deal, an economic blueprint that shreds decades of diplomacy and which even its mooted financial backers seemed reluctant to embrace.

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Qatari PM to attend Saudi Arabia summit after two-year blockade

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Gulf Cooperation Council will meet to discuss Iran’s alleged role in Gulf drone attacks

A possible US-backed thaw in Qatari-Saudi relations has been signalled by Qatari diplomats travelling to Saudi Arabia to lay the ground for their country’s attendance at a major summit in Mecca on alleged Iranian aggression in the region.

Qatar’s attendance will be seen as the biggest rapprochement between the two countries since the Saudis launched a sweeping economic and political blockade against the gas-rich country two years ago, accusing Doha of trying to undermine Saudi Arabia, fund terrorism and promote the Muslim Brotherhood across the Middle East.

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US to hold Bahrain economic conference to launch Middle East peace plan

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  • Official does not confirm Israeli and Palestinian attendance
  • Palestinians believe peace plan will be in favour of Israel

The US will hold an international economic “workshop” in Bahrain in late June, seeking to encourage investment in the Palestinian territories as the first part of Donald Trump’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan, the White House said on Sunday.

Related: The ‘ultimate deal’? For Israel, maybe. We Palestinians will never accept it | Hanan Ashrawi

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Hakeem al-Araibi: thank you Australia for bringing me home – but my fight is not over

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Bahrain will do anything to hunt down dissident athletes and their families. International sporting bodies must step up to protect the helpless

I can never truly express my gratitude to you all, the Australian people, for bringing me home. There were countless dark moments over the 76 days of my detention, when my future looked nothing but bleak. The prospect of never seeing my wife, family or friends again became too close to reality.

The moment I was reunited with my loved ones, hundreds of supporters made it to the airport to give me a warm welcome that went far beyond my imagination. It is something I will never forget for the rest of my life.

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Craig Foster – the man behind Hakeem al-Araibi’s remarkable release

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Hailed for mobilising the global football family, the SBS commentator now says ‘we are just warming up’

On 7 December, 10 days after the Australian refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi was arrested at Bangkok airport, the former Socceroos captain Craig Foster sent a letter to the president and secretary general of Fifa reminding them that they had a human rights policy.

“I am sure that all in our global football family are delighted that Fifa have committed to the protection of basic human rights across its global football activities,” he wrote.

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Hakeem al-Araibi on flight to Australia after release in Thailand

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Refugee Bahraini footballer returning to Melbourne after extradition case dropped

The refugee Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi has boarded a flight to Australia after Thai authorities withdrew an extradition case against him.

Thai authorities said the Bahraini government had decided to end its pursuit of Al-Araibi, who fled Bahrain in 2014 before being granted permanent residence in Australia, where he has lived since.

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Hakeem-al Arabi: Thai cave diving heroes Harris and Challen call for footballer’s release

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The divers, who were named 2019 Australians of the Year, have written to the Thai prime minister to free the refugee

The Thailand cave rescue diving heroes and Australians of the Year, Dr Richard Harris and Dr Craig Challen, have joined the campaign to save the refugee footballer Hakeem-al Arabi, a Bahraini refugee and resident of Australia who is being detained in Bangkok.

Harris, an anaesthetist and diver from Adelaide, and Challen, a champion diver from Wangara, Western Australia, were part of the global team that freed the trapped Wild Boars football team in July 2018. They have been friends and cave diving partners for years.

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Hakeem al-Araibi: extradition proceedings against refugee begin amid Australian protests

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Thai authorities order al-Araibi to appear in court as refugee’s supporters say Fifa and IOC must threaten sanctions

The extradition hearing for Hakeem al-Araibi has been forwarded to the Thai courts as advocates call for Fifa and the International Olympic Committee to threaten sanctions against Thailand and Bahrain, including suspending their memberships, over the continued detention of al-Araibi.

On Friday Nadthasiri Bergman, al-Araibi’s lawyer, said prosecutors had submitted an official request to the criminal court over Bahrain’s request to extradite al-Araibi.

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Campaigners say case of Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi now an ‘emergency’

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• Al-Araibi has been detained in Thailand since November
• ‘We are clearly facing a human rights emergency’

Activists campaigning for the release of the Bahraini refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who has been detained in Thailand since November after an Interpol red notice was wrongly issued against him, say his plight has become an emergency.

The warnings came from Brendan Schwab of the World Players Association and the former Australia captain Craig Foster after news that Bahrain has formally submitted an extradition request for Al-Araibi’s return.

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Hakeem al-Araibi’s detention not Sheikh Salman’s responsibility, AFC says

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Asian Football Confederation, which has come under fire for failing to call for the refugee footballer’s release, says its president was recused from overseeing the region 18 months ago

The Asian Football Confederation claims its president, Sheikh Salman bin Ibrahim al-Khalifa, is not responsible for matters regarding the Thai detention of Hakeem al-Araibi because he was recused from overseeing the region 18 months ago out of conflict-of-interest concerns.

The new claim came in response to a call from the World Players Association for Salman to be disqualified from office if the refugee footballer was returned to Bahrain.

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‘Please help me’: refugee footballer Hakeem al-Araibi tells of his Thai jail ordeal

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Exclusive: In an interview with the Guardian he pleads for his release and says he fears torture and jail if extradited to Bahrain

Hakeem al-Araibi, the refugee footballer from Bahrain who was detained in Thailand while on his honeymoon, has said he is “losing hope” and believes he will be tortured again or even killed if he is deported to Bahrain.

Speaking to the Guardian from Bangkok Remand Prison, a visibly distressed Al-Araibi said he was “terrified ” and that his fear was “getting worse every day”. Al-Araibi was given asylum in Australia in 2017 after fleeing his home country where he was persecuted for his beliefs, tortured in prison and convicted on a trumped-up vandalism charge.

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Hakeem al-Araibi: calls grow for inquiry into police role in refugee footballer’s arrest

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Exclusive: Greens and the ACTU say parliament should investigate AFP’s role in the detention of Bahraini refugee in Thailand

A parliamentary inquiry should examine the actions of the Australian Federal Police which led to the arrest of Hakeem al-Araibi in Thailand, Australia’s peak union body and the Greens have said.

Al-Araibi, a 25-year-old Bahraini refugee who has permanent residency in Australia, was arrested on arrival in Bangkok for a holiday, on the basis of an Interpol red notice, which was later lifted.

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The Latest: US requests report from Saudi ambassador

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FILE - In this Feb. 1, 2015, file photo, Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi speaks during a press conference in Manama, Bahrain. The disappearance of Khashoggi, during a visit to his country's consulate in Istanbul on Oct. ... The United States has asked Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the U.S. to return from a trip home with information on missing writer Jamal Khashoggi.

Trump defends Saudi arms sales amid fury over missing writer

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WASHINGTON>> President Donald Trump defended continuing huge sales of U.S. weapons to Saudi Arabia today despite rising pressure from lawmakers to punish the kingdom over the disappearance of a Saudi journalist who lived in the United States and is now feared dead. President Donald Trump said today he saw no reason to block Saudi Arabian investments in the United States despite concern over a missing Saudi journalist, saying the Gulf nation would then just move its money into Russia and China.

US increases pressure on Saudis over writer’s disappearance

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President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting to discuss potential damage from Hurricane Michael, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018. President Donald Trump speaks during his meeting to discuss potential damage from Hurricane Michael, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 10, 2018.