Perhaps it is time for Obama to urge the Saudis and UAE to send help to Gadaffi to fight the chaos that Al Qaeda and its agents are spreading there! Cheers ken
----- Original Message ---- From: Jim Devine <[email protected]> To: Pen-l <[email protected]> Sent: Mon, March 14, 2011 3:27:13 PM Subject: [Pen-l] our men in Bahrain Saudi Arabian troops enter Bahrain as regime asks for help to quell uprising Move which sees soldiers called in to protect strategic sites likely to inflame tensions between rulers and Shia majority * Martin Chulov * guardian.co.uk, Monday 14 March 2011 19.08 GMT Saudi Arabian troops have crossed into Bahrain after the tiny Gulf state's rulers asked for help from neighbouring Sunni Arab states to quell a two-month uprising that threatens their 200-year-old political dynasty. Riyadh said it had responded to a "security threat" by deploying its military in the streets of its tiny near-neighbour. The Saudi troops have been asked to protect strategic sites, such as bridges and government buildings. Bahrain's rulers said the Saudi forces had crossed the 16-mile causeway linking Saudi Arabia with the Arab world's smallest state as part of a contingent of troops from the Gulf Co-operation Council. Saudi authorities did not give details on the size of the force, which some reports estimate to be about 1,000-strong. The move is likely to inflame tensions between the regime and Bahrain's Shia majority, which has laid siege to central Manama since mid-February and has, in recent days, marched on key government buildings and palaces. As news of the Saudi intervention spread throughout Manama, the landmark Pearl roundabout in the centre of the capital – which has become a focal point for the protests – and a nearby overpass saw tens of thousands of demonstrators, many of whom were bracing for fresh confrontations with troops. More worrying for many observers than the spectre of new clashes is an escalation in the standoff between the Gulf states and Iran, which has strongly backed Bahrain's Shia majority and has long been at odds with its Gulf neighbours, especially Saudi Arabia. Iran's foreign minister, Ali Akbar, reacted immediately to the deployment, urging Bahrain's leaders to use discipline and wisdom in defusing the steadily deteriorating security situation. [continued at http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/14/saudi-arabian-troops-enter-bahrain ] -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante. _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
