BAHRAIN - The Challenges Of Terrorism - Part 2.

The government in Bahrain is worried about two potential sources of terrorism in the island kingdom: Salafi militants from within the Sunni Arab minority which rules the state, and Sadrist militants from the Shiite majority inspired by the young and poor Shiites of mullah Muqtada Al-Sadr in Iraq. Both are fiercely opposed to the US military presence in Bahrain and fellow member-states of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC), with Bahrain housing the headquarters of region's US Navy.

Bahraini Shiites of the lower middle-class provide a bridge between the island state and the neighouring Qatari peninsula, where Shiites constitute the majority of a population ruled by a Sunni minority. A big number of Qatari Shiites are poor people of Bahraini origin and have long been discriminated against by the Sunni minority which, like Saudi Arabia, follows the Wahhabi religious order. Qatar houses the headquarters of the US Central Command (CentCom), in charge of many countries in the Greater Middle East. So any terrorist challenge in Bahrain is simultaneously seen also as a challenge to the US military presence in Qatar, as well as in Iraq, Kuwait, and the rest of the GCC.

One reason the government in Bahrain is worried stems from the fact that its new experiment in democracy remains very limited, with the ruling Al-Khalifa Sunni family being tough on any form of opposition (see survey of Bahrain serialised last year in RIM Vol. 47, Nos. 4-5). After being declared a constitutional monarchy, Bahrain on Oct. 24, 2004, held its first legislative elections in nearly 30 years. The elections marked a milestone for women who voted and ran for national office for the first time in a GCC state. None, however, was elected.