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UK at last urges restraint in Bahrain: no condemnation

22 April 2012 02:58 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. British Foreign Secretary William Hague has finally voiced concern about the ongoing violence in Bahrain calling on the al-Khalifa regime to show restraint in dealing with protestors, APA reports quoting presstv.ir website

Hague said on his Twitter account that he â€œspoke to Foreign Minister of Bahrain â€¦ to call for restraint in response to protest and dialogue with opposition.â€

Hague added, without condemning or even criticizing the al-Khalifa bloodshed in Bahrain, that the British government wants â€œto see reforms implemented in Bahrain, including on human rights and political dialogue.â€

This comes as the Bahraini regime has intensified its crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators ahead of the embattled F1 Grand Prix in the Persian Gulf country.

Police are using tear gas, rubber bullets and sound bombs against demonstrators in the capital Manama amid unconfirmed reports of the use of excessive force and torture against protestors.

The al-Khalifa regime and western governments have tried to cover up the scale of the anti-regime sentiment in the Persian Gulf kingdom, yet occasional leaks of the killings at the hands of the police blow their cover.

In the latest such scenario, the body of the 37-year-old Salah Abbas Habib was found on the roof of a building in the village of Shakhoura.

Bahraini opposition group Wefeq said Habib was one of a group of demonstrators who were chased and â€œbrutallyâ€ beaten by police during the F1-linked protests.