Iraqis call for boycott of Saudi goods over Bahrain (to stop the "slaughter of the Bahraini people")

[Turborama]

Source: Kuwait Times

Published Date: March 21, 2011

BAGHDAD: An Iraqi Shi'ite newspaper called yesterday for a boycott of goods from Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Gulf countries that have supported the government of Bahrain in a crackdown against a mainly Shi'ite opposition. Buying Saudi and Gulf goods contributes to the "slaughter of the Bahraini people" and boycotting them is a religious duty, the Al-Bayyna daily newspaper said in a front page headline that demonstrated the escalating regional rhetoric over Bahrain.

Thousands of Iraqi Shi'ites have taken to the streets this week to protest against intervention by Saudi and other Gulf militaries in Bahrain, an issue which has cast a spotlight on Iraq's own sectarian divisions after years of war.

Its main opposition groups, led by the largest Shi'ite opposition party Wefaq, have since eased their conditions on talks with the Sunni ruling family to try to end the crisis. Iraq, like Bahrain, has a Shi'ite majority that complained for decades of oppression under a Sunni ruling class that dominates throughout the Arab world. Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki has said the intervention by Saudi and other Gulf troops in Bahrain risks igniting sectarian tensions.

Shi'ite Iran has complained to the United Nations about the Gulf states' intervention in Bahrain, and in another sign yesterday of rising tensions between the Sunni Muslim-ruled island kingdom and Iran, a diplomatic source told Reuters Bahrain had expelled the Iranian charge d'affaires. Protests have also been held in Lebanon, which along with Bahrain and Iraq is one of the rare Arab states where Shi'ites outnumber Sunnis.

Read more: http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=NTE4NzgyMTQ4

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Very insightful short documentary about the grassroots movement in Bahrain which was made just before the latest brutal crackdown.

Bahrain: Fighting for change
As unrest sweeps through the Middle East, People & Power looks at the mounting pressure for reform in Bahrain.
Last Modified: 09 Mar 2011 09:29
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/peopleandpower/2011/03/201138153916892448.html

[tcaudilllg]

1. This is what 5000 americans died for.

The oppression of the Sunnis by the Shia.