Bahrain Pulls Out of Arab League Summit

What’s the Story? Bahrain has decided not to attend the next Arab League summit scheduled for March 29 in Baghad.

Why would they pass up the chance for a friendly chin-wag with fellow diplomats and a few nights spent checking out room service in a luxury hotel?  Because Bahrain and Iraq don’t exactly see head-to-head at the moment.

Any angry words exchanged?  Here’s Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmad Al Khalifa in an interview with Russia Today on the subject:  “How can a summit be held, or how can you accept to attend a summit in a country that gives you problems day after day? I do not accuse the Iraqi people on this matter and our relationship with all its components is historical.

“However, when events that unfold here — and which have nothing to do with the popular demands — are used as an issue in Iraq, even in the parliament, then we are not pleased.”

Some Iraqi parliamentarians have been less than supportive of the Bahraini authorities, then. I assume that they would be among Shiite sects? You would assume correctly. The events that happened in Bahrain over the past year are frequently used by members of the Shiite parties in Iraq as a stick to beat their Sunni counterparts.

Have any other countries threatened to pull out? There appears to be a recently concerted campaign among the GCC countries to either opt out of this particular meeting or to have it moved to an alternative venue.  For instance the Saudi Gazette daily yesterday said in its editorial that “it is impossible to hold a summit in Baghdad”.

Last month, a Kuwaiti daily reported that three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries were spearheading a move to convince the other members to join them in the call to put off the summit by at least three months.

And what would the GCC countries like the Arab League to focus on? Syria, Iraq itself and the ‘growing regional instability’ i.e a not-so-coded phrase for Iran.

So will there be a wholesale withdrawal from the event? Who knows – there’s a lot of talking time between now and the end of the March

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