Citizens International, a global initiative from Penang, Malaysia, has called on King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to withdraw their troops from Bahrain for there is absolutely no reason for them to be there.
“There is no external threat to Bahrain but only peaceful protests by the people demanding democratic reforms and an end to the archaic form of government by hereditary rulers,” S.M Mohamed Idris, Chairman Citizens International said in a statement on March 24.
The statement further said, inter alia: “King Hamad bin Eisa Al Khalifa, instead of using violence and killing and wounding hundreds of peaceful protesters, should have entered into a dialogue with the leaders of the democracy movement for establishing a constitutional democratic government in Bahrain with equal rights for all its citizens.
“King Hamad recently claimed that the peaceful demonstrations of Bahrainis for democracy form part of a foreign plot which, with Saudi troops, has now been foiled. This is totally baseless and is directed at Iran to divert attention from the root cause of the protests which is corruption, lack of democracy and serious violation of human rights by his regime.
“He should realise that he and other repressive regimes cannot continue to fool the Arab masses anymore by blaming Iran for the glorious peoples’ struggles for freedom and democracy in the Arab world. They cannot play on sectarian differences to keep the people divided in order to perpetuate their illegitimate regimes. Sunnis and Shias are one – Muslims – and jointly demand an end to dictatorships and hereditary rule and for freedom, democracy and justice.”