Bahrain in danger of being 'Berlin of the Middle East' - Liam Fox
 

06-10-11 10:30 AM

Tory defence secretary warns that Shia protests and Sunni government crackdown will turn nation into dangerous flashpoint

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Photograph: Phil Noble/Reuters

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 4 October 2011 18.42 BST

Bahrain's religious divide means it is in danger of becoming "the Berlin of the Middle East", Liam Fox said on Tuesday.

The defence secretary told a fringe meeting at the Tory conference in Manchester that the Shia protests and Sunni government crackdown in the Gulf nation meant it was becoming a potential flashpoint in the ongoing Arab spring.

"My worry is that if we don't get a resolution in Bahrain you can see, on a Sunni-Shia front, that it almost becomes the Berlin of the Middle East," Fox said.

Noting that "we have a lot of our naval assets there", the defence secretary went on: "We have tried to impress upon the king and the crown prince to embrace reform. If you break, it's because you won't bend. There has to be a recognition of respect for human rights, there needs to be economic reform," and the rights of the Shia majority must be respected by the minority Sunni ruling class.

Fox said he had spent a lot of time trying to get "others in the region" to help encourage the country to reform. "If we can do that it's a way to unlock some of the other tension in the region."

Bahraini security forces have made hundreds of arrests recently as part of a crackdown on mostly Shia protesters seeking greater human rights. A court in the small Gulf nation on Tuesday sentenced 26 activists to prison for their part in anti-government protests, bringing to 60 the total number convicted over the past two days.

Fox stopped interviewer Peter Oborne when it was suggested the Saudis had "invaded Bahrain" earlier this year. "They didn't invade Bahrain," the defence secretary said. "There was a joint GCC [Gulf Co-operation Council] mission that went in at the invitation of the government of Bahrain."

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