November 24, 2018

KNOWING YOUR ENEMIES:

'Not welcome': Tunisians decry Saudi crown prince's planned visit (Al Jazeera, 11/24/18)

[Saida Qarash, a spokesperson of the Tunisian government,]  said Tunisia condemns Khashoggi's murder, and stressed that her country's position calls for revealing the truth.

According to Tunisian activist and former leader of the al-Irada party Tarek Kahlawi, hundreds of people are expected to gather in front of the presidential palace in Carthage, in conjunction with the crown prince's arrival.

"It is a shame that Tunisia, which has witnessed a democratic transition and a revolution against tyranny and dictatorship, will receive a criminal whose hands were stained with the blood of Saudis and Yemenis," he told Al Jazeera.

Kahlawi explained that the protest tent is a "citizenship initiative" that was called upon by all political parties to protest against the visit of the crown prince.

Hamma Hammami, the spokesperson of the main opposition Popular Front party, also condemned the upcoming visit of MBS and considered it a "provocation to the Tunisian people and its revolution and principles".

"We will not welcome the devastator of Yemen and its people, the one who is suspected of being behind the gruesome killing of Khashoggi, and the leader of normalising with the Zionist entity at the expense of the Palestinian people," Hammami told a local Tunisian radio station.

For his part, Emad Al-Daimi, the leader of the People's Movement party, warned Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi in a Facebook post of the consequences of "committing a mistake by allowing bin Salman to desecrate the soil of Tunisia."

A team of Tunisian lawyers said they would file a lawsuit, commissioned by bloggers and journalists who are demanding a ban on the visit.

In an open letter addressed to Essebsi, the Tunisian press syndicate said the aim of MBS' visit to Tunisia was to "whitewash his bloody record because of his involvement in human rights violations".

Donald, Israel and the Sa'uds oppose everything Tunisia stands for.



MORE:
Bahrain holds elections with ban on opposition groups (Al Jazeera, 11/24/18)

Bahrain's Sunni-Muslim ruling Al Khalifa family has kept a lid on dissent since the Shia opposition staged a failed uprising in 2011. Saudi Arabia sent in troops to help crush the unrest in a mark of concern that any power-sharing concession by Bahrain could inspire Saudi Arabia's own Shia minority.

Riyadh regards the neighbouring island nation, which does not possess vast oil wealth like other Gulf states, as a critical ally in its proxy wars with Iran in the Middle East.

Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet, has closed the main opposition groups, barred their members from running in elections and prosecuted scores of people, many described by human rights groups as activists, in mass trials.

"Clearly, legislatures from the world's leading democratic states believe that the upcoming election in Bahrain lacks legitimacy. You simply cannot crush, torture and imprison your entire opposition, call for a pseudo-election, and then demand the respect of the international community," said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, director of the UK-based Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD).

Posted by at November 24, 2018 8:01 AM

  

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