The Bahraini government insisted on Friday it remains open to dialogue with the opposition, in line with a call by the US president that was praised by the kingdom’s main opposition group. The government also rejected false accusations, in apparent reference to reports of abuse during and after a pro-reform protest movement in the kingdom between mid-February and mid-March.
In his Thursday remarks, Barack Obama criticised the use of “mass arrests and brute force” in the Shiite-majority Gulf state, which is ruled by a Sunni dynasty. The Bahraini government said “the door for dialogue has been open in the Kingdom of Bahrain since the launch of a National Action Charter and will remain so.”
Jordanians want ‘corrupt, oppressive’ govt sacked
AMMAN – Thousands of Jordanians demonstrated on Friday across the kingdom, calling for regime reforms as well as the sacking of what they called the “corrupt and oppressive” government. “The people want to reform the regime and end tyranny. No to corruption,” around 2,500 Islamists and trade unionists chanted as they marched from the King Abdullah Mosque in central Amman to a roundabout near the interior ministry.
“Reform starts with combating corruption and the corrupt,” reads a banner carried by the demonstrators. AFP
