Ex-Bahrain MP tweets for killing of protesters

Former Bahraini MP Sheikh Mohammed Khalid publicly called for the killing of protesters via Twitter on Monday, lambasting them as “traitors.”

Khalid, one of Bahrain's most controversial Sunni Islamists, urged authorities to crush protesters in a sign of growing discord between loyalists to the Sunni monarchy and Shia-led protesters.

“If you see a traitor crossing the road, you must run them over and keep going because you are in a country where the law allows you to strike and crush them,” Khalid tweeted.

اذا رأيت خائنا قاطعا للطريق فعليك بدهسه وامضي في حالك بعد هرسه لأنك في دولة قانونها في خمده وعفسه #bahrain @alfarooo8 @7areghum @b4bhcom

— Mohammed Khalid (@boammar) January 9, 2012

Khalid, also known as Bu Ammar, was part of a Salafi bloc and has previously launched sectarian tirades against Shia Muslims, slamming the protesters as “traitors” and “agents of Iran.”

He once called Shia activists “monkeys,” and referred to the Pearl Roundabout – site of pro-democracy protests early last year – as a place of “filth” and for "muta'ah”, a temporary marriage custom permitted in Shia Islam.

In a highly charged sectarian speech early last year, Khalid said “the Sunni community have the right to defend themselves against the protesters" in response to the pro-democracy uprising.

His inflammatory remarks are likely to fuel sectarian tension in the tiny Gulf state.

Protests have resurfaced in Bahrain demanding democratic reforms in a state where a Sunni royal family rules over a majority Shia population.

Bahrain witnessed mass pro-democracy protests against the royal family of King Hamad Al-Khalifa in February 2011 before authorities, backed by neighboring countries, crushed the uprising, killing at least 35 people.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf neighbors sent troops into Bahrain in March, reinforcing a crackdown that led to accusations of serious human rights violations.

Bahrain human rights groups, declaring in a report last November, said that "Bahrain committed violations of various international human rights treaties which it has signed and ratified."

The report documented 45 killings, 1500 cases of arbitrary arrest, and 1866 cases of torture, amongst other figures.

A government-established commission found authorities used systematic torture against detainees, but its findings were met with skepticism from opposition groups due to its affiliation with the monarchy.

The commission found only 35 people had died.

Home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet and on Iran's doorstep, Bahrain is a crucial US ally in a region as tension between Tehran and Washington heats up.

(Al-Akhbar)