In Beirut, Bahraini Activists Rally against 'Saudi Interference'

Bahraini opposition activists on Monday staged a sit-in outside the headquarters of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (U.N.-ESCWA) in Beirut, condemning “the Saudi interference in Bahrain” and urging the international community to “shoulder its historic responsibilities regarding this illegitimate interference which represents a blatant occupation.”

According to a statement carried by Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency, activists delivered a letter to U.N. Special Coordinator for Lebanon Derek Plumbly urging the United Nations to “demand the Saudi forces to withdraw from Bahrain for violating the U.N. Charter, especially the articles related to the sovereignty of nations over their territories and the prevention of interference in the domestic affairs of the countries.”

The statement calls for opening a serious probe into “the violations the Saudi forces had a hand in, particularly the demolition of mosques and places of worship and the violation of religious freedoms.”

It also calls for “referring the file of Bahrain and the regime’s violations against its freedom-craving people to the United Nations General Assembly.”

For his part, Bahraini political activist Ibrahim al-Madhoun accused Saudi forces of “aiding the Bahraini forces in committing crimes against humanity in Bahrain under the guise of the security agreement” between the two kingdoms.

Some 1,000 Saudi-led Gulf troops had entered the tiny kingdom of Bahrain to help the Sunni monarchy there crush a Shiite-led uprising in February and March.

For years, the majority Shiite population has complained of economic and political inequality.

In February, inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt that tossed out long-time autocrats there, thousands of Bahrainis took to the streets demanding democratic reforms.

Government security forces, boosted by the Saudi-led Gulf troops, brutally quashed the Shiite-led protests.