A visit by Bahrain’s king to Sunni supporters this week was also something of a royal blessing for a rising political star: An Islamic academic who claims the Persian Gulf kingdom is under threat from both foe Iran and ally the US.
Once consigned to the fringes, Sunni hardliners such as Abdullatif al-Mahmood are suddenly gaining a receptive audience amid a government crackdown on pro-democracy protesters.
It is another sign of Bahrain’s deeply polarized atmosphere as the kingdom’s Sunni rulers try to open talks with the Shiite opposition after violence that has left 31 people dead since February.
Al-Mahmood’s group appears to be tapping into deep-rooted fears about Shiite giant Iran and growing questions about commitment from Washington, which bases the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
“We won’t compromise on the safety of our nation,” al-Mahmood said during the Tuesday visit by Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.
It was a clear slap at Iran, who Bahrain’s leaders and Persian Gulf Arab allies accuse of stirring the Shiite-led demonstrations in Bahrain. He also rejected calls by some US officials to cut Bahrain’s special trade status following the clampdown on dissent.
“Crises don’t scare us,” said the king as al-Mahmood stood nearby.
Bahrain’s Shiites account for about 70 percent of the island, but they have few allies in high places. They claim the Sunni ruling system is built to block Shiites from any key positions in government or security forces.
The Sunni monarchy’s Western backers, led by the US, have denounced the unrest and harsh crackdowns. On Wednesday, eight Shiite activists were sentenced to life in prison for their roles in the unrest and next week more than 30 doctors and nurses accused of supporting the protests are due to go on trial.
However, Washington and others still have not followed up with any tangible punishments against Bahrain’s rulers.
At the same time, Bahrain has pushed a narrative that splits the nation into patriots or traitors.
“Loyalty” books and Web site have been set up to publicly support the monarchy and anyone challenging the system is branded a potential enemy of the state by official media.
This is where al-Mahmood and other Sunni hardliners have found a new voice in Bahrain’s political affairs.
Al-Mahmood’s ultra-nationalist Sunni bloc failed to win parliament seats in elections last year. Now the Bahrain University lecturer is drawing new attention as he accuses Iran and Lebanese-based Hezbollah of meddling in Bahrain.
“This is a well-known fact that Iran has a project to expand its influence all over the region and dominate the Arab world,” he said. “This is their ideology.”
Washington would have few objections to that point of view.
However, al-Mahmood also comes down hard against the US, saying that US criticism of Bahrain has “made us suspicious that they also have a hand in the recent crisis.”
In an interview in April with an Islamic-oriented Malaysian Web site, al-akham.net, al-Mahmood portrayed many Shiites as fundamentally unable to support a Sunni-ruled state.
“How can you trust them when they put up pictures of [Iranian Revolution founder Ruhollah] Khomeini ... How can the state trust them?” he was quoted as saying.
However, he went further to claim that the US is somehow supporting Iran to create a “vast Shiite state” in the Persian Gulf and Iraq.
“The truth is there is no hostility between Iran and the US,” he told the Web site. “There are mutual interests and roles between the two.”
Such claims are light-years outside the standard policy views. However, they do shed some light on the extreme outlooks among some of those who have gained favor with Bahrain’s rulers since the uprising began.
In April, Bahrain’s prime minister praised al-Mahmood’s National Unity Gathering group as a symbol of “everything pertaining to the nation’s interest and future.”
Opposition groups consider the organization a haven for hardliners.
A message on a pro-reform Web site called al-Mahmood the “latest weapon against the pro-democracy movement.”
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