Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:59PM
Bahrain's
national dialogue, aimed at ending the anti-regime protests in the
Persian Gulf state, has reached a stalemate, due to major disagreements
between the government and the opposition.
"Major disagreements emerged Sunday" after the opposition asked that a representative of the king, and not only of the government, join the talks, according to a participant of the talks on Monday.
The opposition argues that Bahrain’s Al Khalifa monarchy "monopolizes all powers" in the tiny Persian Gulf state and a national dialogue would be worthless without a representative from the king.
"The absence of authority, specifically a representative of the king, leaves the talks short of a key role player," the opposition said in a statement.
The Al Khalifa monarchy "monopolizes all powers which we cannot discuss handing back to the people with parties that hold no authority," the statement added.
Since mid-February 2011, thousands of pro-democracy protesters have staged numerous demonstrations in the streets of Bahrain, calling for the Al Khalifa royal family to relinquish power.
On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates invaded the country to assist the Bahraini government in its crackdown on the peaceful protesters.
On Friday, a 20-year-old Bahraini protester, identified as Mahmoud Issa al-Jaziri, died from injuries suffered a week ago when he was hit with a tear gas canister fired by regime forces.
He was the third Bahraini protester to be killed in less than ten days. Another protester, Hussein al-Jaziri, 16, was killed on February 14 in the village of Daih, while Aminah al-Sayyed Mahdi, 35, died on February 15, a month after inhaling toxic tear gas fired by Bahraini troops at an anti-regime demonstration in Abu Saiba.
According to local sources, scores of people have been killed and hundreds arrested.
Press TV.
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