Bahrain Update

From Bahrain chief correspondent in Bahrain:
"Sometimes I wonder, if the Bahraini regime extremely dumb or if it has some grand plan that we all don't understand. I think about it for a while, and then come to the conclusion that no, they are just idiots.

 

Today the regime arrested yet another public figure - Mohammad AlZayani. Mohammad AlZayani is a salafi from a family with strong links to the ruling family. He describes himself as a loyalist. He is occassionally critical of the regime and has shown sympathy with for example, the students that were expelled during the crackdown. He has called for some reforms but nothing radical and nothing even close to the level of the legal opposition. He has also been extremely critical of the legal opposition as well as February 14.  Like I told you, he describes himself as a loyalist. Unlike many government loyalists however, he enjoys conversing over twitter with people supporting the opposition and attends opposition events (mainly to argue with the opposition).  He was very critical of the government's recent arrest of AlBuflasa and called for his release. Basically, he isn't a puppet of the regime and he has his own views. 

 

But I just don't get why they would do that. Are they unable to tolerate any form of criticism, even if that criticism comes from a person that is loyal to them?  Are they sending a message to loyalists and telling them that unless they agree with every single thing the government does, they are in danger too?  I mean, this is just bizzare. Who is giving them advice?? They are planting the seeds of a new opposition - why would they want to do that??  Is there some plan that we are just not getting here or are they just plain dumb?  I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens. No one knows why he was arrested yet.  Here's a profile of him in case you are interested:   

What's interesting about his arrest is that happened at the same time of a wave of arrests against islamists in other gulf countries.  By the way, one of the people arrested in the UAE came to the National Unity Gathering (loyalist group) and criticized the protests in Bahrain. Bahrain is the only country in which the Muslim Brotherhood is loyal to the ruling regime - will it stay that way considering the arrest of Muslim Brotherhood members in the UAE for example? 

I also read an article by Dr. Madawi AlRasheed in which she argues that the real threat against the royal family of saudi arabia comes not from Qatif but from tribes that have been marginalized by the Saudi regime and that the arrest of Nimr AlNimr was a response to this: 

It might be a stretch but I see this as possibily all inter-related."